“1983”, the 2006 debut album from Flying Lotus, was reissued for Record Store Day April 2026 and promptly sold out. Now the album has been repressed on classic black vinyl due to popular demand.A career that includes modern classics such as “You’re Dead!”, “Cosmogramma”, and “Until the Quiet Comes” began 20 years ago with “1983”, Steven Ellison’s first LP as Flying Lotus. Made in the comfort of his grandmother’s bedroom, it broadcasts early transmissions from an artist just beginning to test his talents. Those talents are displayed in the music’s style, which draws from J Dilla, jazz, and Brazilian syncopation in a way only he could weave together. The Brazilian influence in particular played a significant role in Steve’s understanding of rhythm, a revelation delivered by a lesson from a street vendor in Copacabana. “It flipped my whole wig,” Ellison says, laughing at the memory. Lessons such as the vendor’s, along with his jazz heritage, interest in soundtracks, and interning at Stones Throw Records, are evident in these sonic collages. Though at its beginning stages, the sound present here is not that of a novice but of a visionary who saw what possibilities lay ahead, something encouraged by the label, Plug Research.
“Give us the weird shit,” Ellison recalls them saying. It’s what ended up paying off in the end as “1983” kicked off a run of six studio albums, a body of work that encompasses just one scope of Flying Lotus’ output and influence.