East London grime veteran Griminal is back in your ears with fresh music again after recently releasing 2013, and with features from well known singer Ed Sheeran and top quality producer Shift Key this five-track mixtape doesn’t let you down.

Lights, Camera, Action featuring Ed Sheeran is the perfect opening track for this mixtape. The quick tempo gets you pumped up for the rest of the tape and it sets the scenery for the remaining tracks. Introducing himself in the first bar of the track: ‘cameras rolling, that’s when I grab my moment’. Griminal is stating that he’s back behind the camera where he belongs and where he shines. The vocals from Ed are soft yet gripping, and the soft approach makes you listen and feel the lyrics.

London featuring Jason Farsight is quite similar to the previous track with a quick beat and tentative vocals from the singer. You can tell Grim has thought carefully about the order of the tracks because Lights flows into London fantastically. One of the lines in the song ‘trying to turn my dreams into reality’ shows us that Griminal still has ambitions in the rap game even after having been a grime veteran for such a long time.

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Ready Steady Go has a different feel to the other songs so far, although the beat is a similar tempo. Griminal goes for a different approach and this could possibly be to introduce a different side to the MC from the last two tracks. Griminal drops a line to infer that he’s back in the game and aiming for the top: ‘tell em I’ll be back and it’s just to terminate ‘em’.

Get It On doesn’t feature any other vocalists or rappers but it was produced by highly credited producer Shift Key. With its high pitch and fast tempo this track does really get your head bopping and get you in the party mode, then the house vibe drops and you’re deeply into the track and just like Griminal says ‘by the end of it all guarantee you’ll be singing my song’ – you’re singing the chorus and dancing the night away.

The final track, Faded, is the perfect ending to a perfect mixtape. ‘I’ve been working so hard sometimes I don’t even eat, tryna chase my dreams it’s even f***ing with my sleep’. Griminal is telling us that he has high ambitions in the rap game. Grim’s fast flow kills this beat and this track tops off the whole mixtape, well done Grim. 5/5.

Written by Conner Docherty

Download 2013 here.