After months and months of masterful teasing, the trap monster RL Grime released his first ever full-length album on November 14 titled “VOID” (It is actually in all caps. I didn’t just do that). He has released 11 singles, a couple dozen (+2) remixes and a handful of EPs, but for followers of trap, this album was highly anticipated. RL Grime has been on the top of the game for a while holding down the dirty tunes like the remix of “Mercy” he did with Salva in 2012 which garnered a whole bunch of attention for the both of them. He had been killing it for two years straight and he decided to release his first album exactly a week ago. He released four songs off the album officially before VOID made its way to the market. “Reminder”, “Core”, “Scylla”, and “Kingpin” were expertly used to fuel the hype train along with visually stunning artwork and video content. This hype was not in vain either.
The album is nothing short of amazing. Grime had stated before that the album wouldn’t be stacked with bangers and he was right, but boy did he deliver on the heavy hitters. “Valhalla”, a song done with Djemba Djemba, is a personal favorite for many. With its unique use of marching drums and its not so unique use of the brass section, the song brings the first half of the album to its peak (translation: it goes hard. Very hard). Similarly, “Core” is a tune that is pretty much guaranteed to get any crowd going absolutely bonkers. With its creative lyrics well known to its fans, it began the second half of the album after the entrancing interlude titled “Let Go”.
“Core” was released in July this summer and rightly so. It became an instant go-to for electronic DJs looking to boost any and all energy. As a result, the song sent the hype train miles and miles with no stop in sight for an album that is loud, heavy, and riot inducing but to RL Grime, there is two sides to every coin. This of course meaning that the heavy hitters were naturally accompanied by softer, more emotional pieces. Examples include the opening song “Always”, “Reminder”, and Grime’s personal favorites “Julia” and “Golden State” which bring a tasteful character to the album that separates it from other albums given to us by festival anthem factories (Not naming names).
Music videos are being released one after another in a random fashion and it seems that some sort of story is about to tie everything together. Hopefully, there will be some VOID lore that emerges from the darkness.
VOID brings the bacon and it is a wonderful way for RL Grime to start off his official discography in terms of full albums. Grime is bringing the party to The Varsity December 13th. I will most definitely be there entering the VOID.
