At the end of last year, we learned that mysterious rapper Captain Murphy is actually Flying Lotus. But since the big reveal and release of Duality, we haven't heard much about the Captain. Now, FlyLo has given his first interview about the project to XXL. "I felt like I needed another outlet," he said. "I needed to say some shit and also I wanted to do something that didn’t have any pressures or stigma."
In the interview, he pinpoints the moment when he decided to start taking rap seriously: When he visited Odd Future in the studio while they were working on The OF Tape Vol. 2.
"I can recall the moment specifically. I haven’t told anybody this and I am so glad to talk to you about it. I feel like it was such a big deal for me personally.
"[Odd Future] started playing me some of The OF Tape Vol. 2. ... I asked them, 'Yo, Hodgy, how long did it take you to record this shit? How long did it take you to write this song?' 'Aw, my nigga, it took me like 15 minutes.’ 15 minutes? Are you fucking serious? I was like, 'Nah, nigga. I am gonna do this shit.'"
When discussing why he stayed anonymous, he said, "I wanted people to take me seriously. Not like, 'Oh, that’s cool. He’s rapping now. That’s cute.' No, I didn’t want to do that." Ultimately, though, he revealed his identity when he felt that was taking over the conversation about Captain Murphy:
"I feel like the people made me tell them who I was. They made me reveal my fucking identity. There are some people who were like, 'Oh, you shouldn’t have done it. You should have kept it going.' I was like, Nah, man. All you motherfuckers making websites and shit about who I am and all this shit made it this way."
Currently, he's working on new Captain Murphy material:
"I’m four tracks in. It’s cool. It’s a lot deeper though. This one is kind of like more introspective I feel. It’s a lot darker in the tone of it too. It’s a little less playful. But who knows? It’s only four songs. I’m not in any rush to finish it. But I love doing it. I am having so much fun doing this new character thing."
He also talked about working with Earl Sweatshirt, the perks of being a cartoon, and his first gig as Captain Murphy. Read the whole thing here, and check out Captain Murphy's "The Killing Joke" below.
Watch Flying Lotus and Thundercat on Pitchfork.tv's "Over/Under":