RenzNiro has spent years building something singular in Manchesterās alt underground - grime-adjacent but pushing well beyond it, blending experimental electronics, contemporary composition and world-building lyricism that deals in faith, identity and resilience without flinching.
Four projects in, and the fifth is the one that undeniably makes the case.
āNo Weapon Shall Prosperā is a fifteen track mixtape built over several years and it sounds like it; not overworked, but considered.
The productions are subtle: vaporised grime textures, floating electronic tones, bass and snares pulled apart from each other, with the rhythmic drive often coming from the clip of Renzās own vocal flow. Live guitar, viola and saxophone break through throughout, giving a cinematic depth to his storytelling instinct.
The collaborators - Klein, Space Afrika, Japanese duo Big Animal Theory, Ratiba Ayadi - are a statement of taste in themselves; afterhours digitalism meeting something transformative and autobiographical.
āAll the early mornings, late nights and stress in between has paid offā, he says on the mixtape. āMy one wish is for people to listen deeply, live with it and grow with itā. Itās worth doing exactly that.
š§ Listen to āNo Weapon Shall Prosperā and watch the video for āXYZā featuring Lenacha below