Editor’s Note: Los Angeles creative Vyron Turner has helped shape popular culture over the last decade. Professionally known as Left Brain, he is a founding member of Odd Future and MellowHype, and continues to create some of the most compelling music out there including his ongoing “Mind Gone” project. (Note: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.)
Lizzie Kassab, StockX: It seems like Mind Gone is totally going in a new direction for you as a rapper. How did we end up here right now, with Mind Gone specifically?
Left Brain: It just comes from just hanging around the homies. We started it. Me, Larry, and the homies. It just came from everyone hanging out and always saying, “We were so wild last night,” or “Shut up, your mind is gone.” So, I was like, we should brand that shit. Put it on a skateboard. Mind Gone is a tight name. I haven’t heard anyone use that, no label or anything. Mind Gone should be a little branch for me. All the Odd Future stuff and so, all the homies.
Lizzie: And you’re still working with a couple of the guys from Odd Future, even on Mind Gone Vol. 2, right?
LB: Hodgy, Mike G, and a couple other features.
Lizzie: It was cool to see Sahtyre on there. I feel like he’s been kind of underground.
LB: Yeah, he’s definitely been underground. He’s going to be performing with me at Camp Flog Gnaw [2018.] We’ve been working a lot lately. He’s from L.A too.
Lizzie: What was it like growing up in the hip-hop scene in LA? Was there anything here that really got you inspired to start producing? I know you’ve mentioned that you started really in middle school.
LB: Yeah, middle school and high school. I started in L.A. I was definitely listening to Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, and Dogg Pound. I was getting into a lot of South shit too, like Three 6 and Lil’ Jon. That was the mid 2000s era, or the early 2000s. I was influenced by a lot of South shit too, because that shit was coming up. Jay-Z and P. Diddy were working with 8Ball and MJG, and Styles P was doing the mixtapes going off of the Lil’ Jon beats. It was like everybody was trying to mix up. The New York rappers were rapping on South beats… it was mixtapes, a lot of mixtapes and Lil’ Wayne, Cash Money.
Lizzie: You’ve also mentioned Dilla. We’re the hometown to Dilla right here.
LB: That was real early actually. I was listening to that before because my dad was listening to a lot of conscious rap like Common, The Roots and Mos Def. He’d be listening to that type of shit. That’s where I got that influence from. Me and my brother – he had all the Three 6 Mafia, Snoop, Master P CDs, like, No Limit. Snoop was on No Limit. That whole era, everything was just being mixed. The West and the South and the East.
Lizzie: Do you feel like you carried some of that influence into your work, especially recently as you’ve been doing more solo stuff?
LB: Yeah for sure.
Lizzie: I feel like especially on Mind Gone Vol. 2, it seems like you’ve found a way to tie in so many different sounds.
LB: Yeah, that’s what I was trying to focus on when I’m doing a project, especially when I’m working with other producers like Matt and other rappers. To me, I’m still new at rapping. I don’t consider myself a rapper.
Lizzie: You’ve identified more as a producer who also raps and now you’re moving into that space where you’re the rapper who’s also producing on the same level. What pushed you more in that direction?
LB: I wasn’t really working with Odd Future anymore. MellowHigh, we’ve grown up now, some homies have kids and we’re older, you know. I’m not gonna stop making music so… Just keep it pushing and do solo shit. Rap a little bit because producing can get a little boring for me. Making beats, sending them to people, and then those people not even putting shit out. I wanna put shit out, so I’m gonna use my voice.
Lizzie: By working on your own, you’re not having to depend on anybody else to get that stuff out. Has it been different? Rapping over your own stuff when you’re used to collaborating?
LB: Nah ’cause I rap over my own stuff with the production. It’ll be me and him [Matt] on the beat. It won’t just be my production. It’ll be co-produced. I don’t know if I really like to rap on my own stuff unless somebody helped me with it. Like I said, this is just the beginning. If I could just make beats and then just rap on my shit, that’ll come eventually. I’m still getting better. Just make my own beats, my own raps… that’s next level shit.
Lizzie: So there’s usually a crew with you in the studio then? It’s not typically a private space?
LB: Yeah, it’s always collaborative. I don’t really like to work alone unless I have a specific project I’m working on.
Lizzie: With producing, did you start on traditional instruments before you started actually putting beats together?
LB: Just piano. I don’t play too often. I teach myself here and there, but that’s the only instrument I play. I can play a little guitar, too, but I don’t really practice as much. Mostly just producing digitally.
Lizzie: Well, we’re ready for Vol. 2.5.
LB: 2.5, we’re gonna release that soon for sure. Got to do some more videos. Release party. That’s what you do. Everybody does release parties out here for any little thing, like, a video. If you drop a song, release party listening and we gonna listen to that shit. That’s some L.A., Hollywood shit. I don’t like it but you got to do that.
Lizzie: Do you feel like you get inspired and fired up by that stuff or do you kind of need to pull away into your own space and take time to re-calibrate, focus and be creative?
LB: I feel like I really need to take time. I don’t really go out and stuff like that. That stuff doesn’t feel like it’s really important to me, other than performing. Just seeing the reaction from a crowd.
Lizzie: So it’s more about figuring out what people are into and getting that reaction from your fans.
LB: It’s going back to the drawing board, seeing what people like. Just seeing what works and everything.
Lizzie: How do you know when a project feels done then? How do you usually end up at a point where you’re like “okay, hands up, this is finished.”?
LB: I get the intro, the verse, the hook. If it’s a full structured song, then it feels complete to me. Once we start talking about releasing it, then it really feels done. You can always add on shit. Sometimes I might add on too much. It was probably done like two days ago when I added on shit, I didn’t even notice. I might not even know when it’s done. Sometimes I overdo it and not realize that it was perfect the way I had it. But yeah, when shit’s done, it’s like a full structured song. Just verse, hook, verse, hook, outro, intro, ad-libs, then just push it out.
Lizzie: Obviously you’ve progressed a ton as an artist from early days with Odd Future. How would you describe where you’re at right now, where you’re hoping to head from here?
LB: Now I just want to keep producing – to be legendary, and one of the best producers. I really wanna focus on that because I don’t wanna take rap too serious. I’m gonna rap for sure, but I just wanna work with all the up-and-coming artists and have a bunch of placements. I want to be on the billboard and all that. I don’t have any plaques right now. I’m working towards that.
Lizzie: Who’s top of the list, that dream person you could work with right now?
LB: Rae Sremmurd. I have worked with them but it’s just hard when they’re around so many producers in the studio. We ain’t on a personal level though. I wish I could do that with Rae Sremmurd and a lot of these young artists. I’ve been telling people that I’m gonna stray away a little from rap and maybe just for a few months work on singing and R&B stuff. I don’t have anything like that in the catalog right now. ‘Cause I’m a producer, you know? Then I’ll get back on my rapping shit and work on Volume 3, because that will be the only thing I’ll be rapping on. You’re gonna hear me on some people’s songs, but not too much. If I’m rapping, it’s from Mind Gone. It’s a new way of expressing myself, solo. Solely. Expressing myself and doing it with him [Matt,] Larry and a few other people. I still love to collaborate though. A lot of different ways you can produce and create, you know.
Lizzie: So you kind of just touched on the fact that you’re working, maybe, or started work on Volume 3.
LB: Yeah, we have started working on it. We got a couple songs already that are almost done, so it’s going. We are just gonna have to be in the studio, mainly working on that for a good month. I’m trying to call people, get features, because I wanna go to work in New York and do shit like that. New ways to create, you know, just traveling ’cause I don’t do that often enough. I do, but not often.
Lizzie: How much of Volume 2 was worked on in this studio?
LB: The second half was touched on here. The first half was like really in a bunch of different spaces last year. Volume 2 came over time. We didn’t just work on in a month. It was a lot of time, different spaces, older stuff, newer stuff, but for this one we just want to see that we work easier, focus and not worry about anything else then we can finish it sooner.
Lizzie: I love that you kept a shout-out on there for MellowHigh fans at the end, super cool.
LB: Oh yeah. It’s like album shit, just listening to dope album shit. It’s cool to do if you’re coming with a project, like including pictures. We didn’t have a physical copy. I love CDs and shit like this, actually getting stickers and shit, so I like giving extra little shit for the fans. That’s what I was talking about. That’s what they did on Three 6 Mafia CDs. They’ll put everybody else on the label and what’s coming out, up and coming. They’ll be like “we got this coming from Juicy J, we got this coming from Gangsta Boo, we got that coming from him” and they’ll be like “damn, we get to actually read and get more out of the album instead of just listening to the album”, you know?
Lizzie: Do you think Volume 3 is gonna end up being something physical?
LB: Yeah, because we were trying to do that for 2. For 3, we really wanna do it way more independently. Hopefully, we can just start the label and distribute it. Try to just make it way more in-house. When I’m working on a project, I like to think about the different demographics and people that follow me. I know it’s a lot of street people, it’s some young kids, older people, and parents that listen to my music – all types of people, you know? I think a lot about all the demographics.
Lizzie: Does a lot of your inspiration come from real experience? Or do you feel like a lot of it is being a good storyteller?
LB: Just a good storyteller. I don’t know, that’s like real NAS rapper shit. I’m not a rapper like that shit. I’m not gonna rap about my life and what I’ve been through. I ain’t really been through too much. I stay out of trouble. I just like rapping about craziness and just making up a crazy scene. Like some Too Short shit. Too Short be talking about some crazy shit.
Lizzie: Is there something that you wish more people knew about Left Brain? Especially outside of the Odd Future history?
LB: I’m still a producer. People sometimes think I don’t produce any more. I want to be a legendary producer.
Lizzie: Is there anyone specific throughout your career who really pushed you really hard in your work?
LB: My mom for sure, and all my friends, including Larry. He’ll really be pushing me like, “Come on bro you got to put that out, like, come on man. Are you gonna put that out? Did you finish that? Dang bro, your shit is tight. Don’t ever forget why you’re Left Brain. You Left Brain, bro. You got to drop that, that one.” I be like, all right. He just really be pushing me. Larry is my biggest fan.
Lizzie: Do you have any last words for the kids?
LB: Stay tuned for all the new stuff coming out, 2.5 is coming. I’m about to have four or five projects in the works. Some shit coming out with me rapping and my production. I got some shit with Jay Worthy and a couple other artists. Me and Sahtyre got a project that’s done and ready to go. So, there’s a lot of stuff that’s coming. Look out for that. Videos, music, all that!
Lizzie: I also heard that you were working on some apparel stuff right? Maybe a sneaker, is that true?
LB: Yeah we’re working on merchandise with Mind Gone, skateboards, and doing a couple collaborations. We’re working with Pizza Skateboards right now. I can’t tell you everything. We’re going to be releasing some custom, crazy-shaped skateboards. Maybe some shirts and socks. It’s a skate company out of Sacramento. There are shoes coming out… real exclusive on the shoes. That’s gonna take a couple months. Those are developing. Stay tuned.
