Flying Lotus Talks "Big Mama" EP, LA Music Scene & His Unique Production Style | The Almanac of Rap

On this episode of The Almanac of Rap, Donwill sits down with visionary producer, filmmaker, label founder, and creative architect Flying Lotus for a wide-ranging conversation about music, film, creativity, and the art of world-building. From pioneering the Los Angeles beat scene and launching Brainfeeder Records to directing boundary-pushing films and secretly becoming Captain Murphy, Flying Lotus has spent his career challenging expectations and creating entirely new lanes for artists to exist in. FlyLo discusses his upcoming EP Big Mama, a meticulously crafted project built without loops and designed to feel alive, constantly evolving, and impossible to predict. He also reflects on growing up surrounded by musical greatness through the legacy of Alice Coltrane, how family shaped his understanding of creativity, and why seeing artistic success firsthand made it easier to imagine his own future. Flying Lotus breaks down: The origins of Brainfeeder Records and working with artists like Thundercat, Kamasi Washington, and Louis Cole Growing up in the legacy of Alice Coltrane and Marilyn McLeod The challenges of filmmaking versus music production, and directing Kuso and Ash Producing music with computers during an era dominated by hardware 0:00 - Intro 1:14 - The Ballistics/ The LA Rap Scene 4:54 - Check out the Okayshop 5:04 - Welcome Flying Lotus 5:43 - Favorite Flying Lotus songs 7:00 - New EP “Big Mama” 8:53 - Differentiate music from film 10:24 - Getting into Producing 13:05 - Production style 14:53 - What Flying Lotus uses to produce 16:08 - Captain Murphy Album 18:37 - Captain Murphy Revealing himself as Flying Lotus 22:22 - Rap group “The Unforgiven” 24:07 - Interning at Stone Throw Records 25:37 - Low End Theory Parties 27:49 - Starting Brainfeeder 31:20 - Music or film 33:35 - Transitioning to film 34:55 -Why Horror Films 36:16- F***, Marry, K*** Game 37:28 - Kuso FIlm 38:58 - Adapting certain films into a horror 40:30 - Which film represents you the most 41:57 - The Big Playback 45:37 - Outro/Credits 46:47 - Bonus Content/ Ava DuVernay Rapping 🤳🏾 Got a question, comment or compliment? Leave a message today at 1-877-DONWILL (366-9455) It might just end up in an episode!🎙️ Check out OkayPlayer: https://www.okayplayer.com/ Subscribe to OkayPlayer’s newsletter: https://newsletters.okayplayer.com/ Follow Donwill: Instagram:   / donwill   Website: https://www.Donwill.me | https://www.donwill.substack.com Follow Flying Lotus:   / flyinglotus   Follow us on social media: Instagram:   / okayplayer   Twitter:   / okayplayer   Facebook:   / okayplayer   TikTok:   / okayplayer_   Credits: The Almanac of Rap is Executive produced by Donwill, Isha Sesay & Travis Harris for Okayplayer Media. Created, written and hosted by Donwill; Directed by Travis Harris; Producer/Editor: Kobina Baffour; Art Direction: Kaushik Kalidindi; Production coordination: Bianca B. Ortiz; Technical Director & Audio Engineer: Compton Timberwolf; Audience Development: Hassan Spruill & Ashon McCollin; Audio Marketing Strategy: Faybeo’n Mickens; Camera Operators: Travis Harris, Kobina Baffour, Trigger Bowden & Compton Timberwolf; Graphic Design: Jefferson Harris; Associate Producers: Brianna Harris, Tyara Jackson & Javon Stephenson; Writing Assistant: Peter Berry; Social Media Producers: Taylor McGee & Michael Mais Jr.; Theme Music by: Von Pea. OkayFuture Labs: https://okayfuturelabs.com OkayAfrica: https://okayafrica.com