FLYING LOTUS

I wouldn't want to get involved with a game that's a stinker - I can smell one of those a mile away.

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

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'm not the kind of person who's always out at the club if I don't have to be. I like chilling. I think that comes across in my music.

It's the old-school jazz mentality that I connect with the most. I dig the idea of the seeker, the guy who's always trying to figure out why he is doing music and trying to understand and make sense of his instrument in a world which deals with rigid instruction.

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

I love 'Pop Team Epic,' which is really trippy.

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.

My collaborations tend to be pretty organic. It starts off with me being a fan first.

I've been working with Thundercat forever.

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.

I work a lot.

I never leave L.A. for too long. I'm not one of those that go on a tour of the whole world. I probably should be, but I'm not.

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.

People are not able to just make music anymore; we have to do things that don't necessarily make the art any better. But that's just how it is.

I was a real big fan of Lil Wayne when he first came out.

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

Thundercat put me on to George Duke.

Kendrick is a true genius artist.

The Internet makes it possible for everyone to collaborate.

The Soft Machine's 'Volume Two' inspired me heavily. That record just feels like it was all done in the same breath. It's genius, and it's silly at times. But I love the fact that every time I listen to it, I listen from the beginning and want to play it out.

I like to stay in the space of creativity, and I want to go towards that all the time.

I know what it's like listening to Aphex Twin driving down the beach.

Part of what I like to do with Brainfeeder is to get the younger kids hearing jazz, because they don't know where to go to really hear it. Brainfeeder gives me a platform to put out people like Kamasi Washington or Austin Peralta.

I remember Usher came up to me at Coachella once, and it's like, 'Are you sure you're talking to the right person? How do you even know what I look like? You're not supposed to know who I am.'