Ian Cassar (born 20 February 1966), better known as Req (stylized as REQ), is an English DJ, record producer, and graffiti artist.

Career

In the words of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Sean Cooper, Req began in his native

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

as "one of the U.K.'s most respected graffiti artists." He began his graffiti work in 1984 after the Beat Street film hyped his sense to the basic tenets of hip hop. Although he was a

disc jockey A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include Radio personality, radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music f ...

for many years without musical training, Req only began producing music of his own in the mid-1990s when he signed to Skint Records, who issued his earliest releases. As a graffiti artist, he had previously been a member of the largely musical collective Beats International. His debut album, ''

One 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

'', was critically acclaimed by such publications as '' The Wire'' and production duo Coldcut. In 2015, ''

Fact A fact is a datum about one or more aspects of a circumstance, which, if accepted as true and proven true, allows a logical conclusion to be reached on a true–false evaluation. Standard reference works are often used to check facts. Scient ...

'' ranked the album at number 14 in their list of "The 50 Best Trip-Hop Albums of All Time" and noted "his compositions didn't pander to the popularity of the growing trip-hop scene, instead dwelling in a noisy, near-ambient back room." His follow-up album, ''

Frequency Jams ''Frequency Jams'' is the second studio album by English experimental music, experimental electronic music, electronic producer Req, released in 1998 on Skint Records. As with his debut album, ''One (Req album), One'', ''Frequency Jams'' was recor ...

'' (1998), was made an "Album Pick" on AllMusic. He released ''Car Paint Scheme'' in 2000, and ''Sketchbook'' in 2002.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (1997) * ''

'' (1998) * ''Car Paint Scheme'' (2000) * ''Sketchbook'' (2002)

Compilation albums

* ''TDK'' (2019) * ''Tape Transport: 1994-2000'' (2019)

EPs

* ''Req's Garden'' (1995) * ''Miracles'' (1996) * ''Fantasy Roc'' (1996) * ''Split Series #7'' (1999) * ''Daily Beats 1'' (1999) * ''Daily Beats 2'' (1999) * ''Daily Beats 3'' (1999) * ''Deqjam'' (2000) * ''Calypso Dark'' (2020)

Singles

* "Breakin' at the Seams" b/w "Concentrate and Believe" (2000)

References

External links

* {{Discogs artist, REQ, Req 1966 births Living people People from Brighton English record producers English dance musicians English DJs Graffiti artists