Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an experimental multi-genre music producer, electronic musician, DJ, filmmaker, and rapper from Los Angeles, California. Flying Lotus has released five studio albums--1983 (2006), Los Angeles (2008), Cosmogramma (2010), Until the Quiet Comes (2012) and You're Dead! (2014)--to critical acclaim.

At his mother's house, Ellison saw an advertisement on Adult Swim/Cartoon Network asking for song submissions. He sent some in, under the name Flying Lotus (a moniker inspired by lucid dreaming) and was accepted.  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. The record (released on LA indie label Plug Research) was an early touchstone for Ellison's eclectic creative mission, forging compressed, spacey and Eastern sounding hip-hop beats, that summoned Madlib as much as Dntel, while sampling as far back as 70s Japanese proto-synthpop and 60s jazz harp. It would also feature Laura Darlington, who went on to become a vocal fixture of future albums.  In 2006, Ellison participated in that year's annual Red Bull Music Academy, which took place in Melbourne, Australia. In 2007, he announced on CSU-Fullerton's Titan Radio that he signed with Warp Records (home to Prefuse 73, Autechre, Boards of Canada, and Aphex Twin). Following his Warp debut, 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.  His first release on Warp, Reset EP, gave his new audience a taste of the steady grooves and darker breaks that had earned him the move. 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.

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