Years before Flying Lotus did collabs with Kendrick Lamar and Danny Brown, he was looking for a way to connect with hip-hop on a level he hadn’t shown before — namely, as an actual rapper himself. But with a self-imposed outsider perception, he opted to come out as an MC for the first time using the mysterious masked pseudonymous approach that placed him (not for the first time) in a tradition somewhere between MF DOOM and Burial. The Odd Future vibes are everywhere — Brainfeeder and OFWGKTA shared similar art-damaged stoner-Angeleno [adult swim] circles, after all — but the gnarly vulgarity that earned him Tyler-soundalike comparisons takes a backseat to FlyLo’s faithfully bloodshot take on Quasimotoid cratedigger boom-bap.

– Nate Patrin