Catching Up with Left-Brain – Odd Future’s Secret Weapon

LB: What’s good. I’m Left Brain—artist, producer, actor, songwriter... just an all-around creative from Los Angeles.

47M: Speaking of LA—thought I saw you at the Lakers game yesterday?

LB: Nah, I was just watching at the homie's spot.

47M: You into sports like that?

LB: Not super into it, but I always liked the Lakers. I fuck with the Lakers heavy.

47M: Got any favorite players?

LB: Kobe Bryant, for sure. R.I.P. Kobe. Kevin Garnett too—he was hard.

47M: How do you feel about Staples Center turning into Crypto.com Arena?

LB: That shit's weird. I don’t really know too much about crypto and all that. It’s been Staples my whole life, you feel me? It’s still Staples to us LA folks.

47M: For real. Now, I also consider skating a sport, and I know you and the crew were heavy into that. Did you have any favorite skate brands or skaters growing up?

LB: Man... when I was coming up, I liked brands like Mystery, Fallen, Zero—all the dark, all-black ones. But really, all the homies skated. My dad had a skate shop. I worked there growing up.

47M: Wait, your dad had a skate shop? That’s crazy. Tell me more.

LB: Yeah. We had just moved to the Crenshaw District. I was maybe in fourth or fifth grade. There were kids skating around the corner, so I picked it up. My dad was thinking about starting a bike or skate shop, and I told him, “You gotta do the skate shop—there’s hella kids out here.” So I kinda sparked it, and he opened it. He was supportive.

47M: You mentioned Crenshaw and also La Mer Park—growing up in that area, did that shape your interests in music, fashion, culture?

LB: Definitely. Nipsey was from just a few blocks down. Then you had Project Blowed in Leimert—a legendary open mic and workshop. A lot of history came outta there. It really shaped me creatively.

47M: Tyler once said Odd Future had one of the biggest impacts on our generation—especially creatively, for young independent kids. Do you feel like you’ve come to terms with the influence you’ve had?

LB: Honestly, I think we’re just now realizing it. We’re all in our 30s now—Tyler just turned 31. I didn’t start grasping it until maybe last year. Kids come up to me now saying they were 15 at our shows, and I’m like “Damn, you were a kid when I kicked you in the head at that show?” [laughs] It’s wild, bro. We weren’t thinking about any of that. We were just rebellious kids doing what we loved.

47M: That’s crazy. So let me flip it—who was your Odd Future growing up?

LB: For us, it was Jackass, Baker Skateboards, Supreme. Not even music heads—we all had different tastes. Tyler and Earl were on Eminem heavy. I wasn’t. I was on Madlib, Dilla, MF DOOM. Haji liked Southern stuff. But Jackass and skate culture—that was our shit. That whole squad vibe.

47M: And now Jasper’s literally in Jackass. How’d that feel?

LB: That shit made me proud, bro. We used to film ourselves doing wild shit all the time—food fights, skating, goofing off. Now to see Jasper and his dad in Jackass? That’s full-circle. They passed the torch.

47M: Favorite stunt?

LB: The spider shit with Jasper’s dad. That man is hilarious. He’s raw—just himself on camera. Passed out on screen too. That was insane.

47M: OF Tape Vol. 2 turns 10 soon. Does that mean anything to you?

LB: Not as much as seeing Jasper in Jackass, honestly. Ten years is cool—it’s a decade—but that other shit is legendary.

47M: I noticed you haven’t dropped a full project since 2018. You once mentioned wanting to work with more Billboard artists—how’s that going?

LB: I’ve been working on placements and producing, but Mind Gone Vol. 3 hasn’t even started yet. That’s not in the works right now.

47M: You mentioned J Dilla earlier. He was known for never quantizing beats, always keeping it loose. Does that influence you?

LB: Yeah, definitely. I do that purposely sometimes to get that swing. Dilla, Madlib, all that off-beat feel—you can hear it in a lot of my music.

47M: Haji was the first to rap on your beats, right?

LB: Yup. We just clicked—same interests, same smoke sessions, same producers. We were both on Dilla and DOOM, so it just worked naturally.

47M: You had an instrumental tape on SoundCloud a while back. Ever planning to re-release or drop a new one?

LB: I got 150 beats ready. I want to do it right—with movie clips, cartoon samples, like a Madlib/Dilla-style project. Some of it’s from 2011. It’s old to me, but new to y’all. It’s like digging in the vintage closet.

47M: Got any old OF or Golf pieces you still have?

LB: I got the original donut Vans, some early Golf Wang gear—like the first Letterman jacket Tyler made. That one’s rare.

47M: You studied graphic design at Art Institute SF. Did you design any merch back then?

LB: Yeah, I worked on a lot of that early Odd Future line—bucket hats, IA shorts, stuff like that. We’d go downtown digging for fabric and drawstrings. It was real hands-on.

47M: Why’d you stop the graphic design route?

LB: I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school. I just picked something creative and went. But right when OF was popping off, I dipped. Our first show was in SF—I helped set it up, and after that I was like, "I’m not going back to school. We’re rappers now."

47M: Tyler said y’all split $500 from that first show. You remember what you did with your cut?

LB: Probably weed and a bottle of tequila. [laughs]

47M: What’s the drink of choice now?

LB: Tequila. Used to be Henny, but that shit gets dangerous.

47M: Do you still talk to Larry June?

LB: I met him later, in New York. I’d heard about him, then pulled up to a show. That’s when Mind Gone Vol. 2 started coming together.

47M: You were hanging around Pro Era too?

LB: Yeah, I met a few of them. Didn’t get to do a lot of music—it was a little unorganized. But cool vibes.

RAPID-FIRE ROUND

47M: Favorite cheese?

LB: Gruyère.

47M: Coolest machine you know how to use?

LB: Damn… pass. [laughs]

47M: Any Bloxhead pieces?

LB: Nah.

47M: Still want to work with 6ix9ine?

LB: Nah, I’m cool on that.

47M: Thoughts on bugs?

LB: I’m interested in ‘em—but I ain’t tryna be around them. Little ones scare me.

47M: What’s going on with your Instagram?

LB: Just posting fan art. Been doing that for years now. People draw me some cool shit.

47M: Speaking of—which, I actually made you something earlier. Here.

LB: Yo, this is fire. I’m posting this ASAP. Chef Left? Let's go.

47M: One last question. Did Left Brain ever find the freak?

LB: [laughs] Yeah… I did. A few. You find ‘em, you lose ‘em.

Illustrations by Alex "Rimera" Rimmer