Req

Brighton-based graffiti artist and producer Req captures certain familiar traits associated with British underground club scenes through his complete lack of formal training, an adolescence devoted to tagging walls, spinning records, and breakdancing amid hip-hop’s initial arrival in the U.K., plus an ability to stretch conventional creative boundaries until fresh possibilities emerge. Yet his productions steer clear of predictability, merging distorted and abstract treatments of sampled breaks with a talent for drawing eerie atmosphere from sparse electronic textures and sample-based environments. Widely regarded as one of the country’s foremost graffiti figures, Req first took up writing in 1984 once the Beat Street tour awakened his interest in hip-hop fundamentals. Although music-making began only after he reached his late twenties, extensive bedroom DJ practice sharpened his sense of compositional balance, an asset that offsets the relatively narrow range of sounds at his disposal. His first outing on the esoteric Skint label, already home to Fatboy Slim and Bentley Rhythm Ace, arrived as the Garden EP, whose four pieces of hazy, down-tempo hip-hop echo the beat-driven abstractions favored by DJ Krush and DJ Cam. While citing early Detroit techno, old-school hip-hop, and the Black Dog among his touchstones, Req’s work aligns more closely with the Mo’Wax and Cup of Tea aesthetic, paring hip-hop down to its core elements of bass weight, rhythmic foundation, and surrounding mood. Req:One, his inaugural full-length for Skint, appeared in 1997 behind a wraparound sleeve that reproduced one of his own murals and earned strong acclaim ranging from Coldcut to The Wire.