Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is an independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, specialising in experimental electronic music and Intelligent dance music. The founders of Warp Records are Steve Becket, Rob Mitchell and Robert Gorden. These founders gained there musical experince as they worked at Sheffields FON record shop. Warp records became a home to artists who would make a name for electronic music. Warp records have other strands such as there Film Company called Warp Films and a digital download store called bleep which launched in 2004. Warpmart launched in 2009 which was incorpated into bleep. Warpmart sells downloads, merchandise from many record labels as well as physical releases. Warp Records also have sub labels such as Lex Records, Gift Records and Arcola.

Flying Lotus

Steven Ellison who his known by his stage name Flying Lotus is a rapper from Los Angles and an electronic musician signed to Warp Records. The video I will be analsyising for Flying Lotus is his song "Never catch me" featuring Kendrick Lamar. In this video we hear the audio of Flying Lotus and Kendrick Lamar but a story is portrayed in the video. In the video we see how a typical Sunday church service is in a black gospel church in America. The story in the video is portrayed through dance perfomed by a black girl and a black boy dancing inside the church as well as dancing outisde and playing about. Showcasing church as well as black people emphasises on Flying Lotus passion for black culture. The artist is not seen in the video but through the portayal of the video the artists is seen as visually creative as he has told a story through black culture leaving this for his target audience to decipher however they may take it. The song "Never catch me" has an old southern hiphop sound following the theme of the enthusisam and energy depicted through the children dancing in church and the choir singing.

Flying Lotus has another video called "Coronus The terminator". This songs video also supports the theme of black culture as in the video, a sense of struggle is portayed in America. Flying Lotus would be described as mysterious and alousive as he is hardly in any of his videos. This shows his target audience that his music is not just about his own personal image but about the concept he is trying to create through the consistent use of black people starring in his videos. As seen in both similar videos, Flying Lotus brings an aspect of soul singing into his music as there is either a female or choir of females singing. In the video "Coronus The Terminator", there are many eerie, empty scenes in which there would be a destoryed building and two black men would be seen. This concept alone speaks volumes about the struggle black people have had to experince over the years in America. This also shows black people as well as black men are strong and can still survive considering that mighty buildings around them are destroyed.

Flying Lotuses fits into the genre of hiphop as well as electronic experimental hip hop. Flying Lotuses sound also has an aspect of American soul music. His personality seems very neutral as well as passionate from his music videos. He uses various ways to illustrate his stories in his music videos from the consistent use of black people. The concept of surrealism is shown because in the "Ready Err Not video" , Flying Lotuses animated head was on legs of a spider. This video tells his target audience how creative and expressive he is as a visual and musical artist. Not every message is out rightly told in flying lotuses music leaving a sense of mystery. This aspect of him leaves his audience wanting and expecting more from the inventive artist. Flying Lotus through many of his videos visually expresses his obesseion with death and things that are gruesome.

Flying lotus has marketed his self in many different ways. He has a twitter account in which he tweets and updates his fans about his newest ventures and music. Flying Lotus also has marketed himself through merchandise. There are various t-shirts sold on redbubble website consisting of many different designs that showcase the artist’s style. There are many futuristic desings as well as surrel designs such as a females face with multiple faces her on her own face. This will interest his target audience as they are aware of Flying Lotus style and personality.

In my opinion I think Flying Lotuses music really conveys his style and personality. Flying Lotus has managed to present his unique style and create a fan base for himself simply through the portrayal of his music videos. Flying Lotus has used concepts of black race, surrealism, and futuristic aspects to assemble his brand, image and music. His music videos are to be deciphered by his audience due to the amount of creativity shown. His messages in his videos are left for the audience to interpret and absorb the message however they want. Flying Lotus has given this freedom to his target audience, emphasising the amount of creativity hes adapted and also adding a sense of mystery. This leaves his audience engaged as well as eager to know more about him. This reinforces Flying Lotuses expressive side as an artist and lyricist. I am Flying Lotuses target market because I am able to identify and relate to the subjects used such as black people. By watching the videos I am able to understand and relate to the black culture and the struggle that the black race face in todays society.