{"id":488400,"date":"2026-05-16T23:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/488400\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T23:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T23:12:12","slug":"flying-lotus-people-kept-saying-you-cant-make-hip-hop-with-a-laptop-those-comments-were-my-fuel-flying-lotus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/488400\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying Lotus: \u2018People kept saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t make hip-hop with a laptop\u201d. Those comments were my fuel\u2019 | Flying Lotus"},"content":{"rendered":"

What album or film or book do you always return to, and why?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I always return to Blade Runner, because it has everything that I love \u2013 beautiful music, beautiful visuals, beautiful story. And it helps me sleep. Everything\u2019s got this crazy reverb on it and long, drawn-out sounds \u2013 it makes you drift off. It\u2019s like a warm blanket. It also inspires me. It\u2019s everything I need.<\/p>\n

Your latest release, Big Mama, takes some inspiration from video games. If you could be any video game character, who would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably Goku [from Dragon Ball Z] because he\u2019s strong as hell, he could fly and he\u2019s got powers. It\u2019s fun. Only problem is, he has to fight all the time \u2013 like, monsters and shit. I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m cut out for all that.<\/p>\n

Goku on holiday?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s it. Shredded as hell, all year round.<\/p>\n

If you were a shape, what shape would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

What shape would I be? I dunno, a rectangle came to mind.<\/p>\n

I thought you would say a circle, or a sphere.<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, a circle is cool. I don\u2019t feel round, though.<\/p>\n

A vortex?<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know, I do love that shape. I don\u2019t know why I\u2019m put off by being round. Maybe a triangle? I don\u2019t know \u2013 anything but a circle. I don\u2019t wanna be round.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best gift you ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Honestly, probably a Chucky doll. It was an authentic Chucky doll from Child\u2019s Play 2. My girlfriend at the time gave it to me for Christmas or my birthday, like two years ago? I always wanted one of those stupid things, and I got it. I don\u2019t know how she found it. I saw those films in the 90s. I probably shouldn\u2019t have, but my mom was a horror fan and she likes weird movies, so she always freaked me out when I was a kid. And eventually I started freaking her out.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most recent album or song you listened to?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been listening to the Thriller album, ever since the Michael Jackson movie <\/a>came out. I\u2019ll never forget seeing the dance moves when I was a kid. My mother actually taught me how to count music from watching the video \u2013 she\u2019s counting four, and I\u2019m seeing it, and it all clicked. That was my first real music lesson.<\/p>\n

OK, now I have to ask you what time signature you would be.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three-four. I definitely have my 4\/4 moments, but 3\/4 is sneaky because it can be a fake four sometimes. I think a lot of the things that I come up with in my head, when I go to play them on the keyboard, they\u2019re 3\/4. But then I sometimes have to change it to 4\/4. I think I have a natural inclination to a three count.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best piece of advice you ever received?<\/strong><\/p>\n

To stop using a laptop to make music. At an early point in my career people who were older and more experienced than me were telling me to stop using a computer, and saying, \u201cYou can\u2019t make hip-hop with a laptop.\u201d And those [comments] were my fuel for so long \u2013 they inspired me to be like, \u201cYou know what? I\u2019m gonna prove to these people that I can actually do this, and it can be tight.\u201d So I think sometimes the worst advice is actually the best advice.<\/p>\n

\u2018People older and more experienced than me were telling me to stop using a computer. Sometimes the worst advice is actually the best advice\u2019: Steven Ellison AKA Flying Lotus in November 2008. Photograph: evan Hurd\/Alamy<\/p>\n

What is the most overrated album of all time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man. My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy<\/a> [laughing]. To me, it\u2019s a little bit cringe, I\u2019m sorry. I like Yeezus. I didn\u2019t at first, but I really like that one. I liked 808s & Heartbreak<\/a>. I mean, I fell off the train a long time ago. But [My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy] is one where I\u2019m like, \u201cDamn, that one\u2019s regarded as a classic, huh? Interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n

You studied film, you\u2019ve directed<\/a> two features<\/a>. What\u2019s your favourite movie of all time?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just to fuck things up a little bit, I\u2019m gonna say Beetlejuice<\/a>. It was a gateway horror movie; you got to see the monsters and skeletons and weird freaky stuff. But it was also funny and quirky, and I think it has an accessible charm to it \u2013 anyone can watch it. And I think it\u2019s probably one of the most original film ideas that I\u2019ve seen, to this day.<\/p>\n

If you could change the size of any animal to keep as a pet, what would it be?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I would love a freaking mini panda that can hang out in the house. That\u2019d be cool. Like, as small as a dog \u2013 a little Boston terrier dog. I\u2019m looking at a Boston terrier right now. I have two, called Iko and Meemo, because that\u2019s what they look like.<\/p>\n

Flying Lotus<\/a> is performing his Layer 3 audiovisual show at Sydney Opera House on 27 May, as part of Vivid Live; at the Odeon, Hobart on 28 May; and at the Timber Yard, Melbourne on 29 May<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What album or film or book do you always return to, and why? I always return to Blade…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":488401,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[434,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-488400","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116586790576436023","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488400","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=488400"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/488400\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/488401"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=488400"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=488400"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=488400"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}