Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), better known as Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper. He has released seven critically acclaimed albums: ''

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

'' (2006), ''

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

'' (2008), '' Cosmogramma'' (2010), ''

Until the Quiet Comes ''Until the Quiet Comes'' is the fourth studio album by American electronic music producer Flying Lotus, released on September 26, 2012 by Warp Records. Flying Lotus was inspired to create the album by psychedelic music, Rhythm in Sub-Saharan Af ...

'' (2012), ''

You're Dead! ''You're Dead!'' is the fifth studio album by American music producer Flying Lotus (Steven Ellison), released on October 6, 2014 by Warp Records. Flying Lotus recorded the album at his home in Los Angeles, using Ableton Live and other instrument ...

'' (2014), '' Flamagra'' (2019), and '' Yasuke'' (2021). Flying Lotus' other work includes creating the record label

Brainfeeder Brainfeeder is an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California, founded by Flying Lotus in 2008, focusing on electronic music and instrumental hip hop. It has signed artists such as Ras G, Samiyam, The Gaslamp Killer, Thundercat, ...

, producing much of

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representativ ...

and s is an American adult-oriented television programming block that airs on Cartoon Network which broadcasts during the evening, prime time, and Late-night television, late-night Dayparting, dayparts. T ...

's bumper music, releasing rap mixtapes such as '' Duality'' (2012) under his Captain Murphy alter ago, curating and hosting the in-game radio station FlyLo FM in ''

Grand Theft Auto V ''Grand Theft Auto V'' is a 2013 action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It is the seventh main entry in the Grand Theft Auto, ''Grand Theft Auto'' series, following 2008's ''Grand Theft Auto IV'', and ...

'' (2013), and directing the sci-fi horror film '' Ash'' (2025).

Early life

Flying Lotus was born Steven Ellison in

on October 7, 1983. He has Cameroonian ancestry, being descended from the

Tikar people The Tikar (formally known as Tikari, Tigar, Tigari, and Tigre throughout their history) are a Central African ethnic group in Cameroon. They are known to be great artists, artisans and Oral tradition, storytellers. Once a nomadic people, some or ...

. He is the grandson of singer-songwriter

Marilyn McLeod Marilyn McLeod (May 27, 1939 – November 24, 2021) was an American songwriter and occasional singer. McLeod began her career as a songwriter for Motown. Together with Pam Sawyer, she wrote the 1976 Diana Ross hit " Love Hangover". Early life M ...

, best known for writing hits such as the

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

song " Love Hangover" and the

Freda Payne Freda Charcilia Payne (born September 19, 1942Some sources give a birth year of 1945, but this appears to be an error as all sources agree that she is older than her sister Scherrie, born 1944.) is an American singer and actress. Payne is best ...

song " I Get High (On Your Memory)". McLeod's sister

Alice Coltrane Alice Lucille Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known as Swamini Turiyasangitananda () or simply Turiya, was an American jazz musician, composer, bandleader, and Hindu spiritual leader. An accomplished pianist and one o ...

was a jazz pianist who was married to saxophonist

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, and was named by ''

The Fader ''The Fader'' is a magazine established in 1999 as an outlet for Cornerstone Agency, a marketing and public relations firm established by Rob Stone and Jon Cohen. The magazine covers music, style and culture. History and work It is owned by T ...

'' as the biggest influence on Flying Lotus' music. He attended the

Los Angeles Film School The Los Angeles Film School (informally LA Film School) is a for-profit college in Los Angeles, California, offering associate and bachelor's degrees in majors relating to the entertainment industry. The school encompasses the Los Angeles Record ...

and

Academy of Art University The Academy of Art University (AAU, or ART U), formerly Academy of Art College and Richard Stephens Academy of Art, is a private for-profit art school in San Francisco, California. It was founded as the Academy of Advertising Art by Richard S. ...

Musical career

2006–2007: Adult Swim, ''1983'', and Warp Records

In 2006, while at his mother's house, Ellison saw an advertisement on

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (CN) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the Cartoon Network, Inc., a sub-division of the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks division of Warner Bros. Discovery. It launched on ...

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

programming block asking for song submissions. He sent some in under the name Flying Lotus, a moniker inspired by

lucid dreaming In the psychology subfield of oneirology, a lucid dream is a type of dream wherein the dreamer realizes that they are dreaming during their dream. The capacity to have lucid dreams is a trainable cognitive skill. During a lucid dream, the dreamer ...

, and was accepted. Around this time, he was

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

ing at the pioneering hip hop label

Stones Throw Records Stones Throw Records is an American independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. Under the direction of founder Peanut Butter Wolf, Stones Throw has released music ranging from hip hop to experimental psychedelic rock. ''LA Weekly'' ...

. He released his debut studio album ''1983'' on October 3, 2006. In 2006, Ellison participated in that year's annual

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. In 2007, he announced on CSU-Fullerton's Titan Radio that he signed with

Warp Records Warp Records is a British independent record label that specialises in Electronic music, electronic, indie rock and experimental music. It was founded in Sheffield in 1989 by Steve Beckett, Robert Mitchell and Robert Gordon. It has released recor ...

. He released his debut EP, the six-track ''

Reset Reset may refer to: Film and television * Reset (2015 film), ''Reset'' (2015 film), a 2015 French documentary film * Reset (2017 film), ''Reset'' (2017 film), a 2017 Chinese film * Reset (2024 film), ''Reset'' (2024 film), a 2024 Sri Lankan sh ...

'' on October 1, 2007. Soon afterwards, he became one of the label's cornerstone artists and released his second studio album, ''

'' on June 10, 2008.

2008–2009: ''Los Angeles'' and Brainfeeder

In 2008, Flying Lotus released ''

'', a 17-track album dedicated to his home city. That same year, he followed up ''Los Angeles'' with collaborative tracks with Samiyam and

Gonjasufi Sumach Valentine (born 1978), better known by his stage name Gonjasufi, is an American vocalist, producer, disc jockey, and yogi. Life and career Ecks was born in 1978 to a Mexican mother and an American-Ethiopian father. He spent his formativ ...

, a limited white label run of remixes ("

Camel A camel (from and () from Ancient Semitic: ''gāmāl'') is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. Camels have long been domesticated and, as livestock, they provid ...

", "

Lightworks Lightworks is a freemium non-linear editing system, non-linear editing system (NLE) for editing and mastering digital video. It was an early developer of computer-based non-linear editing systems, and has been in development since 1998. The dev ...

R2-D2 R2-D2 () or Artoo-Detoo is a fictional robot character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise created by George Lucas. He has appeared in ten of the eleven theatrical ''Star Wars'' films to date, including every film in the " Skywalker Saga", which inclu ...

sound effects, " Shadows of Tomorrow" and "

Promiscuous Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by man ...

") called Shhh!, and a series of LA inspired EPs. Each of the La EPs features remixes and unreleased tracks from his Los Angeles Album. The third in that series (titled L.A. EP 3 X 3), marked a new atmospheric style in his sound. The same year, Flying Lotus also remixed "Reckoner" from ''

In Rainbows ''In Rainbows'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a download, followed by a retail release internationally through XL Recordings on 3 December 2007 and in North America t ...

,'' an album by

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

2010–2011: ''Cosmogramma'' and collaborations

His third studio album, '' Cosmogramma'', was released in the UK on May 3, 2010, and in the US on May 4, 2010. In January 2011, ''Cosmogramma'' won in the Dance/Electronica Album category in the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. The multi-award-winning Cosmogramma was a hard-hitting afrofuturistic shrine to soul, hip-hop, jazz and IDM but, with more emphasis on a lyrical message than ever before. The album was accompanied by live instrumentation ( Thundercat on bass,

Miguel Atwood-Ferguson Miguel Atwood-Ferguson (born May 3, 1980) is an American multi-instrumentalist, session musician, arranger, composer, music director, producer, DJ, orchestral conductor and educator. He has contributed to over 500 recordings and scored for televi ...

on strings, Rebekah Raff on harp) and live vocalists (

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

Laura Darlington The Long Lost is a collaboration between American musicians Daedelus and Laura Darlington. The pair are also husband and wife. They dated in high school after initially meeting as members of their high school orchestra, as well as partners in t ...

) – all picked to help communicate the spiritual musical lineage of Ellison's family (

Ravi Coltrane Ravi Coltrane (born August 6, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. Co-owner of the record label RKM Music, he has produced music for pianist Luis Perdomo, guitarist David Gilmore, and trumpeter Ralph Alessi. Biography Ravi Coltrane is t ...

, himself, played tenor sax). Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat, who is featured extensively on Cosmogramma, would later become a large part of future albums by Flying Lotus. In 2010, Flying Lotus collaborated with the

Ann Arbor Film Festival The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the fourth-oldest film festival in North America (after the Yorkton Film Festival, 1947; Columbus International Film & Video Festival, 19 ...

in the performance of a live scoring of the 1962

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

film ''

Heaven and Earth Magic ''Heaven and Earth Magic'' (also known as ''Number 12'', ''The Magic Feature'', or ''Heaven and Earth Magic Feature'') is a 1962 American avant-garde independent cutout animation film directed by visual artist, filmmaker and mystic Harry Everet ...

''. In a post-viewing interview with the audience, Flying Lotus said that he was unsure whether or not a recording of the performance (or a recreation of it) would be publicly released, but he would be enthusiastic towards similar projects in the future. He was chosen by

Battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

to perform at the ATP Nightmare Before Christmas festival that it co-curated in December 2011 in Minehead, England, UK. In September 2010, Flying Lotus released "

Pattern+Grid World A pattern is a regularity in the world, in human-made design, or in abstract ideas. As such, the elements of a pattern repeat in a predictable manner. A geometric pattern is a kind of pattern formed of geometric shapes and typically repeated li ...

", an 8 track EP featuring Thundercat on bass & art by Theo Ellsworth. The Track ''Camera Day'' was used in the

Killer Mike Michael Santiago Render (born April 20, 1975), better known by his stage name Killer Mike, is an American rapper, singer and activist. He made his recording debut on Outkast's fourth album ''Stankonia'' (2000), and guest appeared on the duo's Gr ...

song ''Swimming'', which was released as part of the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (stylized as

Singles Series. In January 2011, Flying Lotus won the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards for his video "MmmHmm" in the Short-Form Video category. It was reported in 2011 that Flying Lotus would be collaborating with R&B singer

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu, is an American singer and songwriter. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

on new material for her next album, and planned to remix one of Radiohead's songs from ''

The King of Limbs ''The King of Limbs'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 18 February 2011 as a download, followed by a physical release on 28 March through XL Recordings internationally and TBD Records in Nor ...

''.

2012–2013: ''Until the Quiet Comes'' and Captain Murphy

With an appreciation for hip hop, but no established work, artists like

Odd Future Odd Future Wolf Gang Kill Them All, better known as Odd Future and often abbreviated as OF or OFWGKTA, was an American alternative hip-hop Musical collective, music collective formed in Los Angeles, California in 2007. The group consisted of rap ...

(also aficionados of Adult Swim),

A$AP Mob ASAP Mob (stylized as A$AP Mob) is an American hip-hop collective formed in 2006 in Harlem, New York City, that consists of rappers (most of whom carry the "ASAP" moniker; except Da$H and Playboi Carti), record producers, music video directors ...

Spaceghostpurrp Markese Money Rolle (born April 1, 1991),Fri, Crossfade. (June 8, 2012Best of Miami 2012 – Best Solo Musician: SpaceGhostPurrp Blogs.miaminewtimes.com. Retrieved on November 4, 2013. known professionally as SpaceGhostPurrp, is an American rapp ...

and

Shabazz Palaces Shabazz Palaces is an American hip hop group from Seattle led by Ishmael Butler a.k.a. Palaceer Lazaro (formerly Butterfly of jazz rap group Digable Planets). Much of Butler's work as Shabazz Palaces has been made in collaboration with multi ...

inspired him to directly participate, and he began production work for Odd Future's

Hodgy Beats Gerard Damien Long (born November 9, 1990), better known as Jerry (formerly Hodgy and Hodgy Beats), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for being a founding member of the hip hop collective Odd Future. Music career Long ...

' Untitled EP. This led to the moment in which he decided to produce more in the genre. Throughout the summer of 2012, Captain Murphy began to make more appearances, dressed in Luchadore Ensemble. In August 2012, Flying Lotus announced a multimedia project with filmmaker Miwa Matreyek, which is to be titled ''The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come''. Flying Lotus produced rapper

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known by the stage name Mac Miller, was an American rapper. He began his career in Pittsburgh's local hip hop music, hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of 15. In 2010, he signed ...

's song "S.D.S." for his album '' Watching Movies with the Sound Off''. He also created a song for the

series ''

Adventure Time ''Adventure Time'' is an American fantasy animated television series created by Pendleton Ward and co-produced by Frederator Studios for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of a boy named Finn the Human, Finn (Jeremy Shada) and ...

'' entitled "About that time//A glitch is a glitch". Behind closed doors, the work for his fourth album ''

'' was almost done. A year prior, he had worked with Ann Arbor Festival to live score a surreal and

50s animation Heaven and Earth Magic, and a fascination with dreamlike states had continued into this record. Until The Quiet Comes continued his creative relationship with Radiohead's

, as well as

Jonny Greenwood Jonathan Richard Guy Greenwood (born 5 November 1971) is an English musician. He is the lead guitarist and keyboardist of the rock band Radiohead, and has composed numerous film scores. He has been named one of the greatest guitarists by numer ...

, Niki Randa,

and, of course, Thundercat, and was cinematically captured in a short film by filmmaker Kahlil Joseph. In late 2012, less than two months after the release of his last record, a website started circulating online: www.captainmurphy.xxx. Press speculated who the rapper was, with guessing being centered around the Odd Future Crew. The site hosted ''Duality'', a 34-minute short film mixtape, that comprised both new material and tracks that had been leaking all summer. In April 2013, Flying Lotus announced that he has his own radio station called FlyLo FM in the video game ''

'', saying there would be "a ton of new songs and information, including rapping a new Captain Murphy song produced by

Hudson Mohawke Ross Matthew Birchard (born 11 February 1986), better known by the stage name Hudson Mohawke, is a Scottish producer, composer, and DJ from Glasgow. He is known for his work in 21st century hip-hop and electronic music. A founding member of th ...

". The radio station includes songs from Clams Casino,

Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...

Tyler, the Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has been cited as an influential figure in alternative hip-hop during the 2010s. Tyler beca ...

Dabrye Tadd Mullinix or Dabrye is an American musician from Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, also known by the aliases James T. Cotton and SK-1. During his adolescent years, he grew up in Troy, MI. His ''Winking Makes a Face'' was the first album re ...

, Thundercat,

Machinedrum Travis Stewart (born March 4, 1982), better known as Machinedrum, is an American electronic record producer and performer from North Carolina.Outkast Outkast (sometimes written as OutKast) was an American hip-hop duo formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1992, consisting of Big Boi (Antwan Patton) and André 3000 (André Benjamin, formerly known as Dré). Widely regarded as one of the greatest an ...

DJ Rashad Rashad Hanif Harden (October 9, 1979 – April 26, 2014), known as DJ Rashad, was a Chicago-based electronic musician, producer and DJ known as a pioneer in the footwork genre and founder of the Teklife crew. He released his debut studio ...

and Shadow Child. In November 2014, Flying Lotus collaborated with MF DOOM on the track "Masquatch" for the reissued copy of the video game. The two collaborated again on the track "Lunch Break" for an updated version of ''

Grand Theft Auto Online ''Grand Theft Auto Online'' is an online multiplayer action-adventure game developed by Rockstar North and published by Rockstar Games. It was released on 1 October 2013 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, 18 November 2014 for PlayStation 4 and Xbo ...

'' in 2020. On July 17, 2013, Flying Lotus announced on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

that he had been nominated for a VMA for the song "Tiny Tortures".

2014–2015: ''You're Dead!''

On July 15, 2014, Flying Lotus posted on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

a photo of vinyl test pressings labeled "LP #5". On July 22, he announced that his fifth studio album, ''

'', would be released in the UK on October 6, 2014, and in the US on October 7, 2014. The album features guest appearances by

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, he was awarded the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Music, becoming the first music ...

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

Herbie Hancock Herbert Jeffrey Hancock (born April 12, 1940) is an American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer. He started his career with trumpeter Donald Byrd's group. Hancock soon joined the Miles Davis Quintet, where he helped to redefine the role of ...

. On August 15, 2014, Flying Lotus released a new song called "Cosplay" with his alias Captain Murphy. On September 30, 2014, Flying Lotus scored the short film ''A Portrait of Noomi Rapace'', starring actress

Noomi Rapace Noomi Rapace (; ; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.Karen Olsson, ''The New York Times Magazine'', 27 May 2012, p. 26. She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of the ''Mil ...

and directed by

Aitor Throup Aitor Throup (born 1980, Buenos Aires, Argentina) is an artist, designer and creative director. Throup is best known for his menswear label 'New Object Research' which has shown at London Fashion Week Men's. Throup's G-Star Raw Research line ...

. During the summer of 2015, Flying Lotus appeared at many summer music festivals including the

Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) far ...

, the

Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival Coachella (officially called the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and sometimes known as Coachella Festival) is an annual music and arts festival held at the Empire Polo Club in Indio, California, in the Coachella Valley in the Colora ...

, the

Governors Ball Music Festival The Governors Ball Music Festival (commonly known as Governors Ball or Gov Ball) is a multi-day music festival held in New York City. Launched in 2011 by Jordan Wolowitz, Tom Russell, Yoni Reisman, the festival features an array of genres and ...

and the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

. His performances received critical acclaim. He appeared alongside Thundercat on Lamar's album ''

To Pimp a Butterfly ''To Pimp a Butterfly'' is the third studio album by the American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was released on March 15, 2015, by Top Dawg Entertainment, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. The album was recorded in studios throughout ...

.'' In July 2015, Flying Lotus, made his national television debut on ''

Why? with Hannibal Buress ''Why? with Hannibal Buress'' is an American late-night television series hosted by Hannibal Buress. On March 10, 2015, the series was green-lit for an eight-episode season. The series premiered on July 8, 2015, on Comedy Central. The show was ...

'', as the show's in-studio

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music fes ...

. Lotus received two

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nominations at the 58th ceremony:

Best Dance Recording The Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Recording (formerly known as Best Dance Recording) is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists f ...

for his song " Never Catch Me" and Album of the Year for his credits as producer on Lamar's ''To Pimp a Butterfly.''

2016–2018: ''Kuso''

On July 5, 2016, Ellison announced the start of Brainfeeder film division. Shortly after, at the Sundance NEXT festival, he premiered a short film titled ''Royal''. It was later revealed to be part of his feature film directorial debut, ''Kuso''. ''

Kuso ''Kuso'' is a term used in East Asia for the internet culture that generally includes all types of camp and parody. In Japanese, is a word that is commonly translated to English as curse words such as fuck, shit, damn, and bullshit (both ' ...

'' would star

Hannibal Buress Hannibal Amir Buress ( ; born February 4, 1983) is an American comedian, actor, producer, and writer. He started performing comedy in 2002 while attending Southern Illinois University. He starred on Adult Swim's '' The Eric Andre Show'' from 20 ...

Tim Heidecker Timothy Richard Heidecker (; born February 3, 1976) is an American comedian, writer, director, actor, and musician. Along with Eric Wareheim, he is a member of the comedy duo Tim & Eric. As an actor, Heidecker's filmography includes roles in ' ...

and David Firth among others. ''Kuso'' featured new music from Ellison himself under both the Flying Lotus and Captain Murphy names,

Busdriver Regan Farquhar (born February 12, 1978), better known by his stage name Busdriver (sometimes stylized in all caps), is an American rapper and producer from Los Angeles. He has collaborated with rappers such as Myka 9, R.A.P. Ferreira, Nocando ...

, and Thundercat, among others. ''Kuso'' premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. On June 6, 2017, Ellison announced that ''Kuso'' would be released via the horror video streaming service Shudder, on July 21, 2017. ''Kuso'' was also confirmed a theatrical release in New York City and Los Angeles. Addressing the responsibility of the wide release of ''Kuso'', on

, Ellison praised Shudder, explaining he found it to be a suitable home for the film's release. On November 2, 2017, Ellison released a music video for a new song of his, "Post Requisite", and is "currently finishing his next studio album on Warp". He also wrote the soundtrack for the 2017 short film ''

Blade Runner Black Out 2022 ''Blade Runner Black Out 2022'' is a 2017 anime short film directed by Shinichiro Watanabe and animated by Cygames Pictures. The short is one of three short films, (with '' 2036: Nexus Dawn'' and '' 2048: Nowhere to Run'') that serve as prequ ...

'' and has contributed music to the 2019

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

series ''

Carole & Tuesday is an original anime television series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe. It was produced by Bones in commemoration of the studio's 20th anniversary and the 10th anniversary of record label FlyingDog. It aired from April 11 to October 3, 2 ...

''.

2019: ''Flamagra''

On April 17, 2019, Ellison announced his sixth album, '' Flamagra'', released via Warp on May 24, 2019. The first single off the album, "Fire Is Coming" featuring

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

, was released on the same day. On May 12, 2019, a second single, "More", was released alongside a music video directed by

Shinichirō Watanabe is a Japanese anime television and film director, best known for directing the critically acclaimed and commercially successful anime series ''Cowboy Bebop'', '' Samurai Champloo'', '' Space Dandy'', '' Terror in Resonance'', and '' Carole & T ...

. ''Flamagra (Instrumentals)'', an instrumental version of the original LP, was released in 2020.

2021–present: ''Yasuke'' and ''Spirit Box''

In 2021, Flying Lotus released ''Yasuke'', his score for the Netflix series of the same name and his "full-length anime scoring debut" after a long history of contributing to other animation and film projects. On June 16, 2022, Ellison released two singles, "You Don't Know" and "The Room", both featuring Devin Tracy. On October 29, 2024, Ellison surprise released an EP, ''Spirit Box''. The EP included two previously released singles—the ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

'' inspired "Garmonbozia", and "Ingo Swann".

Directing

''V/H/S/99''

Ellison directed the "Ozzy's Dungeon" segment for ''

V/H/S/99 ''V/H/S/99'' is a 2022 American found footage horror anthology film produced by Studio71 and Bloody Disgusting. The sequel to '' V/H/S/94'' (2021), it is the fifth installment in the ''V/H/S'' franchise. Set in 1999, the film features five f ...

'', also written by him and Zoe Cooper.

''Ash''

Ellison directed the science fiction film '' Ash'' in 2023. The film was released on March 21, 2025. Flying Lotus also wrote the film's soundtrack, to be released March 19, 2025.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2006) * ''

'' (2008) * '' Cosmogramma'' (2010) * ''

'' (2012) * ''

'' (2014) * '' Flamagra'' (2019)

Filmography

Film and TV scores * ''Until the Quiet Comes'' – original score (2012) * ''The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come'' – original score (2012) * ''A Portrait of Noomi Rapace'' – original score (2014) * ''FUCKKKYOUUU'' (by Eddie Alcazar) – original score (2016) * ''Lovetrue'' – original music (2016) * ''

'' – original score (2017) * ''

Perfect Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...

'' (by Eddie Alcazar) – original score (2018) * ''

'' – additional music (2019) * '' Yasuke'' – original score, executive producer (2021) Director * ''Royal'' – short film (2016) * ''

'' – also writer and original score (2017) * ''

'' ("Ozzy's Dungeon" segment) – also writer (2022) * '' Ash'' – also writer (2025) Actor * ''

The Eric Andre Show ''The Eric Andre Show'' is an American sketch comedy television series created and hosted by comedian Eric André. A parody of late night talk shows, it premiered on Cartoon Network's night-time programming block Adult Swim on May 20, 2012. The ...

'' – himself (2016) * '' YOLO: Crystal Fantasy'' – himself (2020)

Awards and nominations

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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

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UK Music Video Awards The UK Music Video Awards is an annual celebration of creativity, technical excellence and innovation in music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotiona ...

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2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

, Album of the Year , ''

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2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Producer of the Year, Non-Classical The Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical is an honor presented to record producers for quality non-classical music at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. Honors in ...

, Himself , , - , Best Progressive R&B Album , '' It Is What It Is'' , , - ! scope="row",

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, ''

AIM Independent Music Awards The AIM Independent Music Awards, hosted by the Association of Independent Music (commonly abbreviated to AIM), began in 2011. It is established through a collection of independent record labels and providing service and support to independent and ...

'' , Best Independent Track , More , , align="center",

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Flying Lotus 1983 births Living people Academy of Art University alumni African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers African-American record producers Alternative hip-hop musicians American electronic musicians American experimental musicians American hip-hop DJs American hip-hop record producers American people of Cameroonian descent American people of Tikar descent MTV Video Music Award winners Musicians from Los Angeles Rappers from Los Angeles American trip hop musicians Warp (record label) artists West Coast hip-hop musicians 21st-century American rappers Brainfeeder artists Record producers from California Grammy Award winners Plug Research artists Nu jazz musicians Progressive rappers Tikar people

Early life

Musical career

2006–2007: Adult Swim, ''1983'', and Warp Records

2008–2009: ''Los Angeles'' and Brainfeeder

2010–2011: ''Cosmogramma'' and collaborations

2012–2013: ''Until the Quiet Comes'' and Captain Murphy

2014–2015: ''You're Dead!''

2016–2018: ''Kuso''

2019: ''Flamagra''

2021–present: ''Yasuke'' and ''Spirit Box''

Directing

''V/H/S/99''

''Ash''

Discography

Studio albums

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

External links