Steven Ellison, or Flying Lotus, is a multi-genre music producer, DJ, rapper, filmmaker, and electronic musician from Los Angeles, California.
He is the grand-nephew of the late jazz pianist Alice Coltrane, whose husband was saxophonist John Coltrane. Additionally, he is the grandson of singer-songwriter Marilyn McLeod, who is notable for having written Diana Ross's "Love Hangover" and Freda Payne's "I Get High (On Your Memory)", and is Alice Coltrane's sister.
Ellison attended Los Angeles Film School and Academy of Art University.
Around this time, he was interning at the pioneering hip hop label Stones Throw Records. Days were spent in their offices, and nights were spent at his grandmothers, working on the music that would become his debut album: 1983(2006).
Following his record deal with Warp Records(home to Prefuse 73, Autechre, Boards of Canada, and Aphex Twin), he released the six-track Reset EP, he quickly became one of the label's cornerstone artists and released his second studio album, titled Los Angeles, on June 10, 2008.
As Ellison's profile rose, he decided to commandeer the limelight by launching his own label, Brainfeeder, to house his friends (Samiyam, Ras G, etc.) and unite a large section of the LA beat scene under one label.
His next project released was Cosmogramma(2010) which was met with much critical acclaim.
Until The Quiet Comes(2012), was released behind closed doors and continued his creative relationship with Radiohead's Thom Yorke, as well as Jonny Greenwood, Niki Randa, Erykah Badu, Laura Darlington and, of course, Thundercat, and was cinematically captured in a short film by Kahlil Joseph.
Flying Lotus then began rapping under the pseduonym Captain Murphy but withheld his true identity from the project. Duality is one of my favorite hip-hop albums of all time...
His fifth studio album You're Dead!(2014) features guest appearances by Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg and Herbie Hancock.
He appeared alongside Thundercat on Kendrick Lamar's album To Pimp a Butterfly. Ellison received two Grammy Award nominations at the 58th ceremony: Best Dance Recording for his song "Never Catch Me" and Album of the Year for his credits as producer on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly
His stage name Flying Lotus is said to be inspired by lucid dreaming.
The following song was created by WOKE, a collective consisting of Flying Lotus, Shabazz Planets(formerly a member of Digable Planets), and George Clinton.
