Flying Lotus - Yasuke

Three years in the making, Netflix’s Yasuke is a six-episode anime series created by Bronx-bred and Japan-based television animation creator, producer, and director LeSean Thomas (Cannon Busters, Children of Ether, The Boondocks) and starring actor / executive producer LaKeith Stanfield (Atlanta, Sorry To Bother You) as the voice of the title character. Yasuke tells the story of a samurai warrior of African descent in a fantastical alternate universe version of feudal Japan full of magic, mechs, and of course, swordplay.

A dream project for the producer, Flying Lotus consulted on the story, working alongside renowned anime creators Studio MAPPA as an executive producer on the project. The skillset of the GRAMMY AWARD winning producer is on complete display on the album, hybridizing synth melodies, bass lines and machine generated drum patterns while exploring new sonic territory -- traditional Japanese percussion instruments like the taiko and hyōshigi and west African percussion — a nod to the Afro-Japanese, feudal yet futuristic world Yasuke inhabits.

"You haven't really heard an anime score do a "Blade Runner" thing, he says, "I was like, ‘let me try and get into the headspace of that' but also there were several things that were part of the recipe for me. I thought about when Dilla would sample [Isao] Tomita and people like Vangelis, and how he had a [signature] sound when he did that sort of thing."

Tracklist

A1. War at the Door

A2. Black Gold (feat. Thundercat)

A3. Your Lord

A4. Shoreline Sus

A5. Hiding in the Shadows (feat. Niki Randa)

A6. Crust

A7. Fighting Without Honor

A8. Pain and Blood

A9. War Lords

A10. Sachi

A11. Your Screams

A12. Using What You Got

B1. African Samurai (feat. Denzel Curry)

B2. Where’s the Girl?

B3. Kurosaka Strikes!

B4. This Cursed Life

B5. RoBomb

B6. Taiko Time // Sacrifice

B7. Your Day Off

B8. Your Armour

B9. Enchanted

B10. Mind Flight

B11. Survivors

B12. Your Head // We Won

B13. The Eyes of Vengeance

B14. Between Memories (feat. Niki Randa)