HHI Feature: FLACO is the “Boy From Nowhere”
Local rapper FLACO has an intriguing flow. From standing in the back of the room, as if he wasn’t there, to hypnotizing fans with his dark, ominous tone backed with trill beats, I knew he was a complex artist.
When I saw him perform, I stood near the back and watched as fans mobbed, filmed and raged alongside what their favorite rapper. He raged, screaming lyrics into the crowd as they screamed right back. I could tell, even he, was in a trance. From the center of the crowd, FLACO was on cloud nine.
“I’m not necessarily the kind of rapper like, “Everybody put your hands in the air!” but I’m in my own world. That’s why I fair well with intimate audiences. Large groups of people, they’re kinda uneasy. It makes them uncomfortable,” he said. “Which I enjoy but they don’t because it’s just a lot of weird energy, and it’s hard to direct that.”
Before a performance, he prefers to be alone.
“Sometimes there’s a lot of inhibition with putting yourself out there. With me, I have to get into that mindset of, I’m alone and there’s no one here. That’s a double edged sword because a lot of performers live to play to the audience,” he said.
FLACO got his start performing in Muncie, during his time at Ball State. He began rapping at age 19. His first show, was at a punk house show in Muncie. This performance set the stage for how the then young rapper, would perform at future shows.
“We were the only hip-hop act,” he said. “Punk is something I’ve always wanted to embrace. I like the more punk approach, it was the perfect place to start. The punk crowd is never gonna tell you to calm down, it’s ‘express more, express harder.’”
At the time of our interview, he’d released seven mixtapes by the end of 2015. But, according to FLACO, he hated all of them-except one. Boy from Nowhere.
Released as a one-track mix on SoundCloud, the track moves through the different faces of FLACO. It begins, slowed and hypnotizing, drawing the listener in close to this dark side.
“I never identified with Indiana. I felt like I was from nowhere. It was emotional, when it started out, I was going through some things,” he said. “It was more of an experimental thing.”
On Boy From Nowhere, FLACO embraces many different styles. With each style transition, his flow remains relentless. A recurring theme through the mix, is his dark, punk intensity-something that sets him apart from other local artists.
“I was terrified of releasing it. There was a lot of singing and weird stuff, but it’s my favorite. A lot of people like that more. It inspired me to take more risks,” FLACO said.
The source of FLACO’s broad musical palette is attributed to his vibrant childhood and his family’s music tastes.
“My brother, he was a hip-hop fanatic. Whatever he listened to, whatever excited him musically, I would always gravitate to. I grew up in a house where lyricism was super important. Music in general was very eclectic and very accessible,” he said.
Besides his family’s influence, he’s also vocally inspired by Lupe Fiasco, and Julian Casablancas, frontman of The Strokes.
When creating and recording a song, FLACO doesn’t write things down, he just spits what he feels.
“To be honest, it’s just a stream of consciousness. So basically, I like to be there. I’m a person that gets pulled by emotion, very heavily. At that point, I’m not really thinking, it’s just purely emotion,” he said.
Currently, FLACO’s working on a new album, titled EVIL. The release date is yet to be determined.
Check out FLACO’s latest album below, Scorpion King.
