''Duality'' (stylized as ''DU∆LITY'') is the debut mixtape from Captain Murphy, the animated

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, spitting, emceeing or MCing) is a musical form of vocal delivery that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and street vernacular". It is performed or chanted, usually over a backing beat or musical accompaniment. The ...

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experimental An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when a ...

musician

Flying Lotus Steven Ellison (born October 7, 1983), known by his stage name Flying Lotus or sometimes FlyLo, is an American record producer, DJ, filmmaker and rapper from Los Angeles. He is also the founder of the record label Brainfeeder. Flying Lotus ha ...

. It was initially released as a 34-minute

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

featuring songs performed by Murphy as well as archived cult footage (including footage involving Heaven's Gate co-founder

Marshall Applewhite Marshall Herff Applewhite Jr. (May 17, 1931 – March 26, 1997), also known as Do, among other names, was an American cult leader who founded what became known as the Heaven's Gate cult group and organized their mass suicide in 1997 ...

), pornography, cartoons and 1980s films. A deluxe edition was released for download on November 28, 2012, with tracks separated, as well as bonus tracks and instrumentals.

Background

Captain Murphy first appeared over the summer of 2012 on the Flying Lotus-produced track "Between Friends" for the 2012

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

Singles Program. The track also featured

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trading verses with Murphy. Speculation began to arise that Murphy was either

Tyler, The Creator Tyler Gregory Okonma (born March 6, 1991), known professionally as Tyler, the Creator, is an American rapper and record producer. He is one of the founding members of the music collective Odd Future. Okonma self-released his debut mixtape ' ...

, Earl Sweatshirt, Flying Lotus, or a combination of the three due to the frequent pitch shifts in vocals. Between July and September 2012, Murphy released several music videos on YouTube that featured animation by lilfuchs. Over the months, Captain Murphy began hinting toward his debut project ''Duality'', which was scheduled to be released in November 2012.

Release

On November 15, 2012, Captain Murphy started a website and posted a 34-minute video titled "Duality" that featured his music as well as archived cult footage and lilfuchs-produced animation. He then began hinting at a deluxe version with separated tracks, bonus tracks and instrumentals. On November 28, Murphy released the deluxe version for download, along with the launch of a merchandise line. The mixtape was released with separate artwork for each track, created by lilfuchs. The album features samples from the 1987 film Robocop, also referenced in Flying Lotus' rap name Captain Murphy after the titular Officer Murphy, as well as recordings of Marshall Applewhite of Heaven's gate, Kenneth Anger's Invocation of my demon brother, Lucifer Rising, and archival documentary recordings. On the night of the deluxe version release, Murphy played his first show at the

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Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He performed his set in a cloak to conceal his identity, but toward the end of the show, he revealed himself to be

Track listing

References

External links

* {{Authority control 2012 mixtape albums Alternative hip hop albums by American artists Flying Lotus albums Brainfeeder albums Albums produced by Flying Lotus