Written by Phineas Upham
Flying Lotus is the stage name of Steven Ellison, a Los Angeles native who has risen to become a well-known producer. He is a descendant of Alice and John Coltrane, and his grandmother was responsible for writing Diana Ross’s hit “Love Hangover.”
FlyLo’s first album was a six-track affair called Reset, released in 2007. The album had a new sound that helped to catapult him to the top of his record label’s catalogue. He released his second album, Los Angeles, in 2008.
He seems to be emblematic of the “laptop” generation, or the group of musicians who used computers and electronics to create their sounds. FlyLo’s sound is close to eight bit at times, with heavy influences from jazz music. The track Roberta Flack dabbles in acid blues, while Golden Diva adds a certain sense of sexuality to the otherwise mesmorizing and hypnotic tones of the album Los Angeles.
Ellison is primarily a producer, but he did spend some time rapping under the pseudonym “Captain Murphy.” He attempted to keep this a secret for several months, but finally revealed that he was the voice behind the beats.
Flying Lotus is commonly known as the producer of “bumper” beats for Adult Swim, on the Cartoon Network, but his albums have slowly gained mainstream appeal. He won the 2011 Annual Independent Music Award for best video, and he produced for Mac Miller. He also had his own radio station in the popular game Grand Theft Auto V, where he played previously unreleased music that included some of his work as “Captain Murphy.”
