Good Morning Mix: Relive RL Grime’s spine-tingling ‘Halloween III’
As Halloween draws nearer, the subsequent arrival of RL Grime‘s ninth “Halloween” installment looms ever-present. And while the Los Angeles-hailing artist’s mix series has gained notoriety as the inarguable zenith of October, all legends begin somewhere. Rewind to 2014, a year when the definitive trap producer was still classified as a burgeoning virtuoso. With two consecutive “Halloween” mixes in the rearview, Grimes’ third offering solidified the hour-long mix’s status as not just a spooky rendezvous, but also an annual electronic observance that enticed the entire scene to tune in.
All signs leading to “Halloween III” pointed to RL Grime’s inevitable to household name status and concurrently, “Halloween.” Opening his 2014 release schedule with his seminal What So Not collaboration, “Tell Me,” the Sable Valley honcho navigated the first half of the year with his Coachella debut at the Mojave Tent—a precursor to several more milestones in the subsequent months. He would subsequently announce his highly-anticipated debut album VOID and its accompanying tour, leaving yet another unmistakable imprint with the release of “Core.”
Although VOID saw its release two weeks post-mix, “Halloween III” lacked no treats from the trap mainstay, who ensured that the album received healthy representation, scattering lethal selects like “Scylla,” Djemba’s Selassie bootleg of “Core,” and “Monsoon” throughout. Like its predecessors, the third continuation locked in Grime’s discerning eye, his curation yielding a scorching vault of hip-hop’s trendiest picks, ranging from 2 Chainz and A$AP Rocky to Bobby Shmurda, A$AP Ferg, and Vince Staples. Equally potent was his selection of electronic innovators like Gesaffelstein, Hudson Mohawke, and Baauer. Embodying the chemistry between trap and its hip-hop originator, “Halloween III” made a menacing case for 2014’s reign as the subgenre’s golden age, with Grime as its unanimous ruler.
Dancing Astronaut will continue to revisit each installment of RL Grime’s “Halloween” series daily leading up to the arrival of “Halloween IX” on October 29. Follow the journey with our RL Grime Good Morning Mix series.
Categories: Music