Quotes from Flying Lotus

We're all trying so hard to be beautiful, but the people in 'Kuso' are trying so hard to be disgusting.

My music divides people!

There are things I've seen and experienced in this world - things they don't talk about in too many books.

If I see a cop, it's not like, 'Oh, there's a cop who's gonna keep me safe.' It's more, 'There's a cop who might be having a bad day, so don't make eye contact.'

I built computers and stuff when I was a teenager and whatever.

Whenever I am making stuff, I got a thing in the back of my mind: 'Oh, this would be so perfect for' whoever.

I just understand that I'm supposed to be one of those people that disrupts the flavor a little bit instead of being part of the same sound as everyone else.

Dilla could flip a boring record and make you feel like you were flying.

I like when my mind is being stimulated and challenged, and I'm forced to be creative.

I do think your environment really plays into how you create. I lived in San Francisco for a bit, and I felt like I lived in the Matrix - so my music had that paranoid-of-the-outside sound to it.

I'm not much of a coffee person, but when I wake up and the sun is shining through the window, I'll get a lil' bit of green tea and get to work.

I'm so thankful that I had music to turn to in the dark times and be able to understand myself through it.

All of the Flying Lotus records are exploring similar themes: These questions in my mind about what's next and what's beyond.

Reading music has opened up me up so much. I've been experimenting for so long and trying to make sense of things just from my ears. It takes forever. Now I can get where I want much quicker.

I'm a geek, man.

It's okay to not be working all the time and to be gentle on yourself when you're not. When it feels like you're losing that inspiration - or you're in a rut, not making stuff, and your head gets all weird - be gentle on yourself. Just ease into things naturally. But you still have to ease into it: you still have to sit in the chair.

I don't want to do one of those records where it's like a compilation of a bunch of all sorts of rappers on my beats. I don't find those to be focused albums.

I can't let darkness be what guides my decisions. I can't let that be what guides how I treat people. I can't let that be what drives my art, either.

I love Snoop - I grew up with his music - but I never thought for a second that we'd work together.

The first beat that I ever made that I thought was actually worth a damn was called 'Toilet Paper Nostrils,' and I made it when I had a cold. I had the worst cold ever. And I had toilet-paper nostrils making music, but it was really reflective of how I felt. It was a really sad trumpet sound.

I feel some responsibility to shine light on things that I love.

Before saying, 'This track is so dope; it's gonna go on the album,' I like to take some time away from it and see how I feel about it in a few months. If it's gonna get released, I gotta love it - it's gonna have my name on it forever.

I'm always seeing stuff and imagining scenes in my head when I'm making music.

I wish I could write music notation. Even if I couldn't play it, I wish I could just write it.