Flying Lotus facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Flying Lotus
Flying Lotus in 2008
Background information
Birth name	Steven D. Bingley-Ellison
Also known as	FlyLo Captain Murphy Steve
Born	(1983-10-07) October 7, 1983 (age 41) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Genres	Electronic avant hip-hop nu jazz wonky IDM progressive rap
Occupation(s)	Record producer DJ rapper songwriter filmmaker
Years active	2005–present
Labels	Warp Brainfeeder Plug Research Hyperdub
Associated acts	Burial Earl Sweatshirt Gonjasufi Hodgy Kendrick Lamar Laura Darlington Mac Miller MF Doom Samiyam Thom Yorke Thundercat

Steven D. Bingley-Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known as Flying Lotus or FlyLo, is an American music producer, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper. He was born in Los Angeles, California. He is also the person who started the record label Brainfeeder.

Flying Lotus has released seven studio albums that have been praised by critics. These include 1983 (2006), Los Angeles (2008), and Flamagra (2019). He has also created a lot of the short musical pieces, called "bumpers," for Cartoon Network's Adult Swim shows.

In 2012, Flying Lotus started rapping under a secret identity, or "persona," called Captain Murphy. This character was inspired by a cartoon character from Sealab 2021. He kept it a secret for several months. He finally told everyone his true identity after releasing his first rap collection, called a "mixtape," named Duality (2012).

Early Life and Musical Roots

Steven Ellison was born on October 7, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. He is the grandnephew of Alice Coltrane, a famous jazz pianist. Her husband was the well-known saxophonist John Coltrane. Alice Coltrane is considered a major influence on Ellison's music.

A DNA test showed that Ellison is a descendant of the Tikar people from Cameroon. He studied at the Los Angeles Film School and Academy of Art University.

Musical Journey

Starting Out: Adult Swim and First Albums

In 2006, Ellison saw an ad on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim asking for music. He sent in some songs using the name Flying Lotus, which came from his interest in lucid dreaming (dreaming while knowing you are dreaming). His music was accepted.

Around this time, he was also working as an intern at Stones Throw Records, a well-known hip-hop label. He released his first album, 1983, on October 3, 2006.

In 2007, he signed with Warp Records, a famous music label. He released his first short album, an "EP" called Reset, on October 1, 2007. He quickly became a key artist for Warp Records. His second album, Los Angeles, came out on June 10, 2008.

Los Angeles and Brainfeeder

In 2008, Flying Lotus released Los Angeles, an album with 17 songs dedicated to his hometown. He said that the artist J Dilla greatly influenced his music.

He also released many other projects in 2008. These included songs with Samiyam and Gonjasufi. He also put out a series of EPs inspired by Los Angeles. These EPs had remixes and unreleased songs from his Los Angeles album. The third EP in this series showed a new, more atmospheric style in his sound. That same year, Flying Lotus also remixed a song called "Reckoner" by the band Radiohead.

Cosmogramma and Collaborations

His third album, Cosmogramma, was released in May 2010. In January 2011, Cosmogramma won an award for Dance/Electronica Album at the 10th Annual Independent Music Awards. This album blended soul, hip-hop, jazz, and IDM music.

Cosmogramma featured live instruments and singers. Artists like Thundercat (on bass) and Thom Yorke (singing) were part of it. These artists helped connect the album to Ellison's family's musical history. Thundercat would later work a lot on Flying Lotus's future albums.

In 2010, Flying Lotus performed live music for the 1962 film Heaven and Earth Magic. He also worked with the band Battles to perform at a music festival in December 2011.

In September 2010, Flying Lotus released "Pattern+Grid World", an 8-song EP. The song "Camera Day" from this EP was used in a Killer Mike song. In January 2011, he won another Independent Music Award for his music video "MmmHmm".

Until the Quiet Comes and Captain Murphy

Flying Lotus performing at the 2012 Bonnaroo Music Festival

Flying Lotus was inspired by hip-hop artists like Odd Future. He started producing music for artists like Hodgy Beats. This led him to create more hip-hop music. In the summer of 2012, his secret rapping character, Captain Murphy, started appearing more often.

In August 2012, Flying Lotus announced a new project with filmmaker Miwa Matreyek. It was called The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come. He also produced a song for rapper Mac Miller and created music for the Cartoon Network show Adventure Time.

His fourth album, Until the Quiet Comes, was completed around this time. This album continued his work with Thom Yorke from Radiohead, and also featured Erykah Badu and Thundercat. A short film by Kahlil Joseph was made to go with the album.

In April 2013, Flying Lotus announced that he had his own radio station in the video game Grand Theft Auto V, called FlyLo FM. This station included new songs and a Captain Murphy song. He was also nominated for an VMA for his song "Tiny Tortures" in July 2013.

You're Dead! and Film Work

On July 15, 2014, Flying Lotus hinted at a new album. On July 22, he announced his fifth album, You're Dead!, would be released in October 2014. This album featured famous artists like Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, and Herbie Hancock.

In August 2014, he released a new song called "Cosplay" under his Captain Murphy name. He also created the music for a short film called A Portrait of Noomi Rapace in September 2014.

In the summer of 2015, Flying Lotus performed at many big music festivals. These included Bonnaroo and Glastonbury Festival. His performances were highly praised. He also appeared on Kendrick Lamar's album To *** a Butterfly.

Flying Lotus was nominated for two Grammy Awards in 2016. These were for Best Dance Recording for his song "Never Catch Me" and Album of the Year for his work on Lamar's album.

Kuso and Flamagra

In July 2016, Ellison announced that his record label, Brainfeeder, would start a film division. He then showed a short film called Royal. This film was part of his first full-length movie as a director, called Kuso. Kuso premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017. It featured new music from Flying Lotus and other artists.

In November 2017, Ellison released a music video for a new song, "Post Requisite." He also created the music for the 2017 short film Blade Runner Black Out 2022. He contributed music to the 2019 anime series Carole & Tuesday.

On April 17, 2019, Ellison announced his sixth album, Flamagra, which came out in May 2019. The first song from the album, "Fire Is Coming," featured director David Lynch.

Yasuke

In 2021, Flying Lotus released Yasuke. This was the music he created for the Netflix animated series Yasuke. It was his first time scoring an entire anime series.

In June 2022, Ellison released two more songs, "You Don't Know" and "The Room." Both songs featured Devin Tracy.

Directing Films

Flying Lotus has also directed movies. He directed the science fiction film Ash in 2023, which is set to be released in 2025.

Discography

Studio Albums

• 1983 (2006)
• Los Angeles (2008)
• Cosmogramma (2010)
• Until the Quiet Comes (2012)
• You're Dead! (2014)
• Flamagra (2019)
• Yasuke (2021)

Filmography

Film and TV Scores

• Until the Quiet Comes – original music (2012)
• The Mapping of Countries Yet to Come – original music (2012)
• A Portrait of Noomi Rapace – original music (2014)
• Lovetrue – original music (2016)
• Blade Runner Black Out 2022 – original music (2017)
• Perfect (by Eddie Alcazar) – original music (2018)
• Carole & Tuesday – extra music (2019)
• Yasuke – original music, executive producer (2021)

Director

• Royal – short film (2016)
• Kuso – also writer and original music (2017)
• V/H/S/99 ("Ozzy's Dungeon" part) – also writer (2022)
• Ash – also writer (2025)

Actor

• The Eric Andre Show – himself (2016)
• YOLO: Crystal Fantasy – himself (2020)

Awards and Nominations

Images for kids

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