His fans worship him, electronic music listeners admire him and the trap enthusiasts recognise him as their true King. Yes, we’re indeed talking about the one and only, RL Grime. Known for delivering some of the genre’s biggest and nastiest hits, the LA-based producer has come a long way to be recognised as one of trap and bass music’s biggest and most talented acts. So without further ado, let’s welcome our Artist of the Month for July 2018, RL Grime.
Lesser known as Henry Steinway, the man stepped into the dance music world as Clockwork before diving into the darker and grittier world of hip-hop and trap inspired electronic music as RL Grime. While some of his earliest works include ‘Trap On Acid‘, his groundbreaking remix of Kanye West‘s ‘Mercy‘ along with Salva which shot him into fame and an even more thunderous rework of Benny Benassi‘s viral hit ‘Satisfaction‘, the WeDidIt affiliate also delivered some excellent EPs in the form of ‘Grapes‘ and ‘High Beams‘. 2013 proved to be a gigantic year for the rising star as RL Grime wrecked havoc with originals like ‘Because of U‘, ‘Infinite Daps‘ alongside Baauer, and his colossal remixes of Rihanna‘s ‘Pour It Up‘ and Chief Keef‘s ‘Love Sosa‘.
In 2014, the trap heavyweight went on to deliver the monstrous ‘Tell Me‘ with What So Not before cementing his spot as one of the greatest names in dance music with the release of his debut album, ‘VOID’. Featuring mammoth cuts like ‘Core’, ‘Kingpin’ featuring Big Sean, ‘Valhalla’ with Djemba Djemba amongst others, his monumental LP turned out to become an instant classic, and it continues to command its position as one of the most brilliant works of modern trap music.
Talking about making classics, RL Grime has also built a cult-like following over the years, thanks to his globally recognized Halloween Mix series which made its first appearance in 2012. An annual tradition which sees the trap lord bless his fans with an impeccable mix of some of the hottest cuts on offer in celebration of Halloween, it has truly become a huge component of RL’s illustrious career. In the post-‘VOID’ era, Henry went quiet on the production for quite some time despite doing a hundreds of shows around the world. With some humongous remixes for Travis Scott (‘Skyfall’) The Weeknd (‘The Hills‘) and TNGHT (‘Acrylics‘) which saw the light of day in 2015, the man once again proved why he is considered one of bass music’s top acts.
With 2016 finally underway, his fans began to grow impatient before the man finally showed up with his first single in almost two years. Following the release of ‘Aurora’, the trap kingpin was quick to drop yet another bomb with the release of ‘Waiting’ featuring Skrillex and What So Not. A long awaited ID which finally saw the light of day, RL had finally gotten his fans hungry for more.
Photo Credit: Rukes
Having performed at some of the biggest festivals around the world including Bonnaroo, Coachella, Electric Daisy Carnival, Ultra Music Festival and several others in recent years, 2017 saw him come out all guns blazing with multiple singles including ‘Reims’, ‘Stay For It’ featuring Miguel and ‘Era’ before finally announcing his forthcoming album, ‘NOVA’. With a massive tour in tow, RL Grime got his fans excited for what’s to come.
Come 2018, the star act continued to keep himself locked inside the studio for the completion of his highly awaited sophomore album besides continuously treating fans to new music with cuts like the Daya-assisted ‘I Wanna Know‘, ‘Undo‘ with Jeremih and Tory Lanez and ‘Pressure‘. And now with ‘NOVA’ all set to finally take over the world on July 27 with its monumental release, it has indeed been a long time coming for fans. With the level of expectation surrounding his upcoming LP at an all-time high, we at Bangin Beats are hopeful of RL to deliver an excellent body of work like no other.