Gonjasufi

Sumach Ecks, the dreadlocked yoga instructor raised in San Diego who also records as Sumach Valentine and Randy Johnson, stepped away from rapping in the Masters of the Universe crew and DJ'ing with Killowattz to pursue solo work as Gonjasufi. In 2006, after leaving the coast for desert-based yoga teaching in Las Vegas, he met Gaslamp Killer and Flying Lotus during a Los Angeles visit, and the trio quickly formed a connection. Already creating lo-fi psychedelic hip-hop for personal use, mostly on CD-Rs, Ecks asked the pair to supply beats that he later coated with his raspy vocals. Those early mixes earned him a place on Warp in 2008. After more than a year spent refining the material with AGDM at Silver Lake and issuing the 7" singles "Ancestors" and "Kowboyz & Indians," the album A Sufi and a Killer arrived in March 2010. The remix set The Caliph's Tea Party followed later that year, and early 2012 brought the moody mini-album MU.ZZ.LE. A split EP with Ras G appeared in 2013, while guest spots surfaced on projects by Perera Elsewhere, Awol One & Gel Roc, and the Bug. He rejoined Warp in 2016 for the full-length Callus. The Mandela Effect surfaced in 2017, containing reworkings of Callus tracks by Daddy G (Massive Attack), King Britt, Shabazz Palaces, and others, along with a collaboration featuring Afro-beat drummer Tony Allen.