Rest Easy, CharlestheFirst…

Yesterday afternoon the news was broke by Lab Group in an Instagram post regretfully disclosing the passing of beloved music producer CharlestheFirst… The news comes as a shock to those who knew him personally and those who were dear fans of his music. At such a young age of only 25, CharlestheFirst led as a strong example with his down-to-earth energy and was truly a pioneer of his own sound. His impact on music probably hasn’t even been fully recognized yet, but the community is suffering a great loss together. He’s got brothers in the bass community who are already dedicating the rest of their music careers to him.

Elena and I just saw him this summer at Deep Tropics, where his set absolutely stole my heartbeat and Elena captured a shot of me blissed out dancing to his organic melodic bass music. He was recently in our city partying in St. Louis for Halloween, and I was planning on coming up to Chicago in February to catch his SOLUS tour. His sound is so special, beautiful soundscapes blended with hip-hop beats, a surreal sound that understands things inside me I could never put into words. I am so deeply saddened by this news; it does not even feel real… It’s absolutely tragic and never should have happened. Let this serve as a reminder to be extra careful out there and hold your loved ones close.

The whole community is hurting right now… I’m sending so much love to the close friends and family of Charles Elias Ingalls, as well as to all those who his energy and music has touched. The least I can do is put together a playlist in his honor. The world lost a really dope soul yesterday. It wasn’t supposed to go down like this… Rest in peace, King.