A Transcendental Samurai: The Influences of FLYING LOTUS
Image by Tim Saccenti
Producer, director, rapper, composer, label boss—there seems to be very little that LA-musician Flying Lotus touches that doesn’t turn to gold. The man is bonafide modern renaissance man, moulding his geeky fascination with obscure esoteric culture, to create a luscious medley of sounds, that feels simultaneously forward looking and futuristic, as well as oddly familiar and nostalgic.
His record label Brainfeeder, has prided itself in promoting artists who are synonymous with experimental beat making, and over the years he has moved into film, producing a sick and twisted debut feature film, titled Kuso. Heavily influenced by the work of David Firth—the British animator famous for producing the off-kilter and creepy Salad Fingers—Flying Lotus managed to create a film that was deranged, gross and utterly devoid of good taste.
Image by Tim Saccenti
Coming from a strong lineage of musical stalwarts— it’s common knowledge that his great-aunt was the spiritual jazz musician Alice Coltrane—in a way, it seems like Flying Lotus was always destined for great things Evidently this rooting in jazz, found solace in his own music, but to limit his sound to this single source of inspiration would be an injustice to the scope of this enigmatic musician. Flying lotus has spent the last decade pushing the limit as to what can be expected from both hip hop and electronic music. With a sense of purity and innocence, Flying Lotus has combined elements of his childhood, such as glitchy video game samples, west coast gangster rap with UK electronic music and Japanese anime. But how deep does the rabbit hole go?
To get to the bottom of matters, here at GATA we have compiled a beginners guide to the mind scape of this fascinating artist; delving into the cultural points that make up the framework for this prodigious talent. We think you’ll be surprised where it takes you.
You're Dead! Album Artwork by Shintaro Kago
WARP RECORDS
“I listen to Drukqs all the time. There’s something about it - the craziness, the piano and everything else. - Flying Lotus
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While at college a young Flying Lotus ended up diving into the records of Warp artists such as Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. It was this underground and experimental sound that would go on to separate him from his peers. While others around him were making instrumental hip hop beats using traditional methods such as drum machines, hardware and vinyl record samples, Flying Lotus was pushing his sound in a completely different direction. He was playing with digital workstations, software and digital synthesisers; blending the sounds of hip hop legends like J Dilla with the jungle inspired drum beats of UK producers like Aphex Twin.
FILM
“I spent enough time outside of it. I think I honestly had to just abandon film and the idea of doing film for so long, because film school made me second-guess myself all the time.”
Brazil (1985)
Due to his success as a music producer and label boss, it is an often forgotten fact that Flying Lotus first love was not actually music but was rather film. While initially dropping out of film school, after feeling like the rigid structure was creatively inhibiting him, Flying Lotus has come full circle again. In recent years he has provided the soundtracks for animated features like Shinichiro Watanabe’s Blade Runner: Black Out 2022 and most recently Yasuke—an anime featuring the story of a black samurai living in medieval Japan. The visual element of Flying Lotus’ work has always been important, filtering down to his live shows and choice of collaborators.
Fun fact—while being interviewed for the Criterion Collection, Flying Lotus named Brazil as one of his top ten films of all time, claiming that director Terry Gilliam was one of the best to ever do it and how the film blew people’s minds when it first hit cinemas.
Until The Quiet Comes — short film by Kahlil Joseph
DAVID FIRTH
On tracks Fire Is Coming and Ready Err Not, Flying lotus unleashed the grotesque and twisted urges of his psyche, by teaming up with renowned British animator David Firth. Firth who created Salad Fingers—a surrealistic tale of an abnormal being roaming a post-apocalyptic wasteland—definitely planted the freakish seeds for what would become his recent forays into the world of horror films. Flying Lotus took this uneasy mood and adapted it into a horror filled adventure, for Ready Err Not. It’s jazzy electronic tinged soundtrack undercuts the visuals to create an uneasy and unsettling atmosphere.
Ready Err Not - Flying Lotus
Ready Err Not - Flying Lotus
ANIME
“I had a cousin who owned a few anime movies on VHS. They were all stacked up on each other and the pictures looked so crazy. One was Akira. One was Fist of the North Star. One was Wicked City. We watched them, and he was like, you know, these aren’t for kids. I was 11 or 12 years old, getting my mind blown seeing this stuff.”
Wicked City (1987)
Animation and Japanese culture has always been a strong influence on the mind of Flying Lotus, in the early days of his career he spent his time submitting short music tracks to cartoon network’s late night broadcast service—Adult Swim. Recently, he just finished work as producer and composer for Netflix’s Yasuke, a six episode series loosely based on the real life story of a 16th century black samurai. The story centres around the character of Yasuke, who is charged with the task of protecting Saki, a girl with mysterious magical powers.
AFROFUTURISM
Sun Ra
It would be hard to compile a list of influences for Flying Lotus without mentioning the Afro-futuristic legacy of jazz pioneer Sun Ra. Afrofuturism was an artistic and cultural aesthetic that saw an optimistic and progressive future for African Americans, viewed through the lens of science-fiction narratives. From the futuristic styling of Sun Ra, to the extensive use of percussion and poly-rhythms to create off beat and disorientating sonic landscapes, the debt that Flying Lotus owes to this legendary artist is there for everyone to see. Flying Lotus even went so far as to name one of his tracks Arkestry; a respectful nod to Sun Ra’s ensemble “The Arkestra”.
VIDEO GAMES
Final Fantasy VII (1997)
If you’ve been to a Flying Lotus live show before, then you definitely can feel his love and passion for video games. From interlacing his mixes with the Final Fantasy “battle music” to actually curating, mixing and voicing the DJ for one of GTA V’s radio stations; Flying Lotus’ love for the medium goes deep and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him returning to the industry soon. Also if you listen to track 1983, you’ll hear glitchy samples that sound like they’ve been taken from a trippy alternate Super Mario reality.
Final Fantasy VII (1997)
RAP
Madvillainy (2004)
Flying Lotus can be viewed as the spiritual successor to beat makers such as Madlib and J Dilla with his early work capturing the swing and feeling of these legends; and he has long spoken about his admiration for MF Doom and Snoop Dogg’s debut album Doggystyle. As a fresh college graduate, Flying Lotus found a job working as an intern for forward-thinking hip-hop label Stones Throw. It was here that he got his first taste of the music industry and developed the skills that would aid him when he finally started his own record label.
Doggystyle (1993)
LOS ANGELES
To end the list, we have to travel to the origin of Fly Lo—the city of Los Angeles. Like the Sex Pistols and London or The Ramones with New York, it seems impossible to imagine Flying Lotus’ music without the magical influence of Los Angeles. From the sun-drenched funk grooves that litter his DJ mixes to the west-coast gangster rap albums that formed the genesis of his rap alter-ego “Captain Murphy”; hip hop and LA has been essential in forming the DNA for Flying Lotus’s creative vision.