“Living the story that was made for me…”
100 Roses.
Brooklyn’s own Yeah ReQ has finally released his long awaited project. If you guys are unfamiliar with Yeah ReQ then the name ReQ Cartier should ring a bell if you been keeping up with the movement the guys over at The Suite Life have been generating. Yes, he changed his name, you’ll find out about that on the bonus track ‘Testimony, My Story’ (An easy favorite, by the way).
Releasing the project on his birthday, for any artist there is no better gift to yourself than releasing something near and dear to you for others to enjoy. Leading up to ‘100 Roses’ if you follow ReQ you should be familiar with the project name, he has only been hinting and talking about it for some time now. Filled with 10 tracks; the artist, songwriter and engineer delivers a personal body of work especially due to the fact that there are no features on the tape. On the production side of things though, DJ Mustard, Harlow, Beat Boyz Music & Yeah ReQ, of course handle the boards.
Opening up the tape with the project title song, I immediately felt like a statement was being made early as if this is riot music and ReQ was orchestrating an all out onslaught. The next song which we should be familiar with is ‘Antics‘ (first single) and if you have ever gone through relationship problems or dealt with multiple women, this song should definitely hit home in one way or another. Now going from ‘100 Roses’ to ‘Antics’ makes it clear early on that ReQ is going back and forth through rapping to his ability to harmonize. In doing so the balance to deliver on all accords will be a sure thing to grasp different listeners attention. That leads us into ‘Down’. Down is a record strictly for the ladies. Going from the many ‘Antics’ he puts on display for the ladies he now decides to get his act together with the follow up as he aims to slow things down. With it only being two minutes in length this also gives me an interlude feel as it prepares to switch gears again.
‘Fakes In The Crowd’, is another early favorite for me as ReQ continues to show his versatility . From the soundbite between an artist and radio show personality, to Yeah ReQ’s brash delivery, there’s no telling he’s means business. Also if you needed that “New York” sound I feel that this is one that should fill that void if any. I’d love to see a video for this song right here but that’s just me. Ready for that switch? Well ‘Lemme Know’ does just that as his focus for the ladies comes in again and he keeps things honest on the perfect girl he’s looking for. Now to give the ladies even more incentive to be the one ReQ is looking for he delivers a sure shot with the DJ Mustard produced ‘Move That Shit’. Now this is his effort at delivering a joint that has all the intentions to make the ladies want to dance, twerk or whatever it is they do on the dance floor. Here’s where album sequencing comes into play, remember the intentions of getting the ladies to dance, well with ‘Perfections’ ReQ basically describes a “foot in your mouth” scenario as he talks about how he falls for a dancer and the different things that occurred due to his infatuations with her.
Nice three song run.
‘All In’ is technically the last song on the album which is followed by 2 Bonus tracks; ‘Songs For You’ and ‘Testimony, My Story’. To finish things here, not taking away from ‘All In’ and ‘Songs For You’ but ‘Testimony, My Story’ is the truest form of self revelation as an artist. We immediately get an interview with ReQ which breaks down his process of how he came up with the album, how long it took him to get it done and what led to the name change which we alluded to before getting to the post. Overall, I would say ReQ delivered on ‘100 Roses’. There is something for everyone here and you can tell he took time out to focus on his sound and bring forth music with substance. For me my favorites are ‘100 Roses’, ‘Antics’, ‘Fakes in The Crowd’, ‘Perfections’ and ‘Testimony, My Story’.
Finally we are here, stream the project below…
