Kittens, Graves, and R.L. Grime stopped off in Nashville as part of their Nova Tour, drawing in a packed house despite it being the night after Halloween. Lauren “Kittens” Abedini started the night off, increasing the energy as the crowd steadily grew. The L.A. based DJ got her start mixing in college, but before long she was performing at private parties for stars like Usher and opening for Kid Cudi on tour. Her set up was very minimalist in terms of lights, but did not take away from her laid –back vibe and slightly soulful set.
Graves took over and took the energy up a few notches and it became clear almost instantly that Graves will be one to watch. Without any obvious effort, the young producer was able to engage and connect with the crowd, but seemed completely engrossed in his craft for the entirety of his set.
Graves, a.k.a Christian Mochizuki is not exactly new to the music industry, breaking in seven years ago by taking an assistant position to none other than Kanye West during the My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy days. After a year of running errands for Kanye & Co., he got into the studio as an engineer with his work ultimately securing himself a Grammy for MBDTF as well as a credit on Watch The Throne. Now with his solo project a fast-rising star in bass music, Graves serves a perfect opener and compliment to R.L. Grime.
For months R.L. Grime has teased fans and music bloggers alike with clues about his latest project Nova. By taking it on the road he’s proving that it is more than an album or a promotional tour, it is truly an experience. Former R.L. Grime shows have featured minimum lights with a focus on the gritty vibes and heavy trap music. However, Nova’s state- of- the art light set up is neither conventional nor distracting. The focus is still on the music, with the crowd yelling along to every beat, but the added effects augments R.L. Grime’s natural ability to deliver.
Grime’s Nova set is entertaining and unpredictable while heavily teasing that the best is yet to come (when the new album drops). “Era”, “Reims”, and “Stay For It” are already crowd favorites and his “Bodak Yellow” remix is well on its way to becoming 2018’s “Mercy”.
