Song of the Day (BLM): Flying Lotus – Black Ballon Reprise (feat. Denzel Curry)

Day 7. Flying Lotus is one of the most experimental producers of contemporary Hip-Hop & Electronica. He emerged towards the end of the ’00’s with a unique blend of bass heavy Hip-Hop, whacked out electronic Psychedelia, free Jazz experimentation & Afro Futurism.

Denzel Curry is a relative unknown to me, but his verses on Black Balloon Reprise are excellent & I will be investigating his other work. This is one of the beautiful things about Flying Lotus’s music. He loves to collaborate with all manner of different people & therefore introduces his fans to exciting new artists all the time.

Black Balloon Reprise was taken form his 2019 album Flamagra, which also contains collaborations with artists as diverse as Thundercat & David Lynch. It’s unique mix of traditional Hip Hop drums & experimental percussive textures creates a gorgeous juxtaposition of futuristic experimentalism & old school vibes.

Let’s take a nice and deep breath
And slowly expire
And take a nice, deep breath

The Big Bang happened when the black balloon ignited
I feel the pain shoulder to shoulder as I was knighted
The night turns to day and my days don’t seem the brightest
It’s like itis, I wanna take a bite out of what life is
If the President fuck around and piss off ISIS
Bury me in blueberry bills, jewels and ices
Lets connect from mind to mind
Lies are on the rise, increase to bigger size
Hard to victimize when evil’s idolized
Inside my battered mind, I have visions of being broke
A broken man writing words of wisdom inside these notes
Shattered and lost, chattering talk
Blabbering off, grabbing the cross
Telling Jesús nothing matters at all (uh huh)
The black balloon floats
The black balloon flies
The black balloon pops
The black balloon dies
I must be the black balloon then
The children of the world always speak the truth, and
The earth will soon end
We all perish, all parents, all kids, all buried
Cemetery, ceremonious, find me at my loneliest
Life is the ugliest bitch I ever messed with
When she quickly down that nut back like Nesquik
Never try to take my life, you get your chest hit
Counting paper with Nyyjerya till my flesh split

We all cry
The day the black balloon explodes, we all die
Nobody couldn’t handle the truth, we all lie
They wait to see the real exposed, till they like
“Take that fucking shit until my casket close”
We all cry
The day the black balloon explodes, we all die
Nobody couldn’t handle the truth, we all lie
They wait to see the real exposed, till they like
“Take that fucking shit until my casket close”
We all cry

Can you save me, baby?
Can you save me, baby?

Looking for some great music? Try the Song of the Day (BLM) Spotify playlist.