Captain Murphy (Flying Lotus’ not-so-secret rap persona) was painted as an elusive yet powerful cult figure in his 2012 full length debut Duality, but what good is a sinister laugh and unhinged attitude without a contentious origin story? Never fear dear reader, Adult Swim’s stepped in and worked that out for us.

FlyLo’s animated alter ego, who looks and acts like a mutated MC Ride crossed with a mythical Rick Ross, might be the hatched spawn of Lovecraftian volcano love, a product of the aurora borealis or even a traveller of peace born on the path of karate. Ultimately, only the villainous Captain Murphy knows the true story.

With Lotus’ fifth full length You’re Dead! due to hit shelves later this year, could this be a not-so-cryptic hint that another Captain Murphy joint is also imminent? It’s exactly what happened with Until the Quiet Comes and Duality the first time around, so here’s hoping.

The art is done by lilfuchs who also designed Duality‘s covers (there’s rumoured to be 16 of them) and blends his use of patterns and neon colour palette with a kind of Superjail! animation style that’s perfect for the Adult Swim promo.

In reality, Flying Lotus partially based Captain Murphy on the character of the same name from Adult Swim series Sealab 2021 whose scorpion pal you can see getting squished right at the start of the vid.

You’re Dead! drops October 6 through Warp records.

More Flying Lotus

Flying Lotus teases tracklist for You’re Dead
Listen: Captain Murphy ft Viktor Vaughn & Earl Sweatshirt – ‘Between Villains’
Flying Lotus announces You’re Dead album and tour dates