LiL Lotus

Lotus is the creative persona of Dallas, Texas singer and multi-instrumentalist John “Elias” Villagran. He’s garnered millions of streams and hundreds of thousands of listeners with his evocative lyrics, often issued in sorrowful serenades just as commonly as they are heard in whiny pop-punk deliveries. As Lotus, Villagran employs his seemingly limitless vocal range and draws from his vast array of influences in metal, pop-punk, and hip-hop to create genre-blending music.

As a youth, Lotus would play in garage and metalcore bands as a bassist, often screaming vocals as well. Tired of not being able to play more experimental music, Lotus founded the goth metal band Begotten in 2016. While working at a dead-end warehouse job, Lotus became increasingly drawn to Wicca Phase Springs Eternal, Cold Hart, and others’ avant-garde approach to hip-hop. He eventually left the band to start his own solo project: Lotus.

He started rapping and singing in late 2016, releasing various singles with local Texan artists fats’e and scum. A year later, he connected with producer Nedarb and issued his first project, “Bodybag.” Shortly after, Lotus met smrtdeath and Lil Aaron, creating the tongue-in-cheek trio Boyfriendz, who would go on to release 2 projects of their own. In 2018, Lotus released his turbulent EP with Horse Head, “i did this to myself.”