It is a great thing when an artists goes from an EP to a LP and shows progression and creativity and two years on from the well received ‘Coffee, Biros and Death’ Requiem has done just this with ‘Grassroots Anarchy’.

The ten track offering displays a defiant, angry young man that is using hip hop as his outlet to show his frustrations with the society we dwell in. Defiant dishes up the intro and the leading track ‘Apeshit!’ (listen to this track below) as Requiem attacks the industry and politics involved and why it makes him go this way.

Straight away you can notice his flow and voice are not your usual clear concise, there are certain lines and words that at first sound a little rushed but they work within his style and different verse structures.

A reflective hip hop influence track with a twist is offered on ‘Counter Culture’ as fakes are called out for the music they supposedly rep and Req tells us exactly what he listened to with a few surprises in there over a funky Wizard beat.

Req has stepped up his flow and presence on the mic, growing from his previous work and obviously taking advice and learning his own style to a more comfortable level when he is spitting. This is shown on tracks such as ‘Pacifist’s Dilemma’ produced by Doc Felix, and ‘Linephile Confessions’ produced by Pabstrakt.

Req has also stepped up on a story telling vibe with ‘The Violence of Love’, a tale of revolutionary Oscar Romero and also on his own personal tale in ‘It’s Getting Late’. Guest spots are kept to a minimum but at an effective level on the gritty ‘Street Journalists’ featuring Fluent Form and Maundz and produced by Ciecmate, raw.

To be honest I was not the biggest fan of ‘Coffee, Biros and Death’ and I was hoping this would rise above it. Not only did it rise above but it blew it the fuck out of the water. It has a vibe to the whole product which you get into. There is an air of anger with reason that works and the beat selection and topical matter sits well with Req’s delivery and style. Definitely worth a look.

By Gareth M

Requiem Grassroots Anarchy is available now from the usual outlets or gab it online here

Requiem – Apeshit! by requiem