The Weird and Wonderful World of Wiley: An Introduction

Year: 2004

Album: Treddin' on Thin Ice

By the time Wiley released his fully self-produced debut album on XL in 2004 he was a lynchpin of the fast-expanding grime scene, both as a founding member of the Roll Deep collective (which Dizzee Rascal was once a part of), and thanks to his instrumental releases as Wiley Kat which helped define the sound of the genre. With grime spreading from its East London birthplace, and mainstream media slowly starting to take notice of records like Dizzee Rascal's 2003 debut LP Boy In Da Corner, "Wot Do U Call It?" sees Wiley explaining how his music should be categorized.

With skeletal, punishing production that is the very definition of Wiley's "eskibeat" sound, "Wot Do U Call It" is a grime classic, and the perfect introduction to Cowie's dual threat as an MC and producer.

Year: 2004

Mixtape: Creeper Vol. 1

Wiley released some of grime's most important instrumentals, tracks like "Eskimo" and "Ice Rink," and while it's maybe not as well known, "Morgue" is an incredibly eerie, sub-bass heavy monster of a production. Of course, this is Wiley, so as well as producing it, he outshines his fellow Roll Deep members Brazen, Scratchy, Breeze and Trim on the "Morgue" beat. Wiley comes in third, at around the 40 second mark.

Year: 2005

Album: In at the Deep End

The collective element is at the very heart of grime and is best understood by listening to one of the many old radio shows preserved for posterity on YouTube, where you can hear MCs going in one after another with freestyles for days. Roll Deep was the biggest, baddest crew in grime, and "When I'm Ere" off their debut album sees them showing off their strength in depth, with eight of the collective spitting in the course of three short minutes. Wiley appears second, around the 40 second mark.

Year: 2006

Mixtape: Tunnel Vision Vol. 2

Wiley is known for his hothead nature, which continues to make itself felt on Twitter even today, but back the mid-2000s saw Wiley beefing with everyone from former protégé Dizzee Rascal to the Newham Generals to Scorcher, who "I'm A Sinner" is directed at. Deserving of repeated listens, "I'm A Sinner" is not full of complicated double entendres or metaphors, but is a brilliant example of grime spitting, pure, simple and brutally direct.

Year: 2006

Album: Da 2nd Phaze

After leaving the first of his record labels, XL Recordings, Wiley released Da 2nd Phaze, which is half-way between an album and mixtape, on the Boy Better Know label. Three of the tracks were re-used on Wiley's next album proper, Playtime Is Over, but one of the tracks that didn't make the cut is the brilliant "Stormy Weather," which veers between boastful and introspective.

Year: 2007

Mixtape: Tunnel Vision Vol. 5

As well as releasing albums, Wiley has kept up a steady stream of mixtapes releases throughout his career, as part of Roll Deep, Boy Better Know, or on his own. Some of the most vital are numbers 1-6 of his Tunnel Vision series, released between 2006 and 2008, and rammed full of freestyles, war dubs, and Wiley classics.

On "Sorry Sorry Pardon What," Wiley samples Dizzee Rascal's voice from a freestyle on Wiley's own classic "Ice Rink" beat for the shouted hook, and goes nuts, proving that however much label drama or beef he got involved in, at the end of the day he was one of grime's very best MCs.

Year: 2007

Album: Playtime Is Over

Wiley's third studio album, his first on Big Dada, saw him mainly continuing with the hard-edged minimalism of the production seen on his debut album, while lyrically re-asserting his status as the Godfather of Grime. The subject matter is generally less humorous than anything previous, reflecting Wiley's dissatisfaction with challengers, haters, record labels and all sorts of other perceived enemies.

In fact, Wiley even said at the time that this would be his final album as an MC, although that clearly wasn't the case. On "Bow E3," Wiley shouts out his, and grime's, birthplace of Bow in East London (E3 being the equivalent of the area's zip code), reminding listeners that he was there at the beginning of grime, and he'll be there until the end.

Year: 2007

Album: Playtime Is Over

As Wiley explains on "Gangsters," his music couldn't be more real, and the two seperate occasions that he has been hospitalised from stab wounds sadly confirm that. By the time Playtime Is Over was released Wiley was a father, and so rather than glorifying the gangster lifestyle he is reflecting on it, over a beat that uses a catchy vocal sample to grab the attention and not let go.

Year: 2008

Album: See Clear Now

"Wearing My Rolex" was Wiley's first real foray into mainstream chart success, peaking at No. 2 on the UK charts and being (over)played across British clubland. With it's commercial house syle production and lack of any real rapping, the song and its album See Clear Now saw Wiley accused of selling out. Wiley would eventually disown the whole album, leaving the label it was released on, and claiming they went behind his back with many of the production decisions. Whether or not this is true, it proved that he could break into the charts, and would provide a formula that Wiley would return to in the future.

Year: 2009

Album: Race Against Time

Wiley's sixth studio album saw the rapper returning to a grimier sound after the chart aspirations of See Clear Now, but the album's biggest, most successful track was still a club-orientated song which coincided with a growing mainstream appreciation of the underground. "Too Many Man" lies in a strange place that is a little to grimy too be pop, but a little too dance orientated to be straight grime. Regardless, if you were in the UK in 2009, you will have heard this.

Year: 2010

Album: Zip Files

In typical Wiley fashion, the MC took to Twitter to release, totally free, 11 zip files containing over 200 tracks and instrumentals old and new. The quality was, of course, variable, but there were a whole load of gems in there (some of the best are collected here), including "Art of Grime" which was just another reminder the Wiley hadn't lost his flow just because he'd made a couple of crossover hits.

Year: 2011

Album: 100% Publishing

Wiley's 2011 album, called 100% Publishing because it was written, produced and mastered entirely independently of a label, saw the MC and producer experimenting again, still using fairly sparse beats, and seemingly rapping about whatever happened to pop into his head when he was in the booth. Luckily, his sense of humour ("don't get in my way when I'm tweeting") and larger than life personality carry the album, as demonstrated on the undeniably weird "Boom Boom Da Na."

Year: 2012

Album: Evolve or be Extinct

Hearing Wiley flow over a sparse, icy, self-produced beat in 2012 was somewhat of a godsend for anyone who was worried that he was done making grime, but that's just what we were treated to on the title track of his eighth studio album, Evolve or be Extinct. Without any chorus to speak of, "Evolve Or Be Extinct" couldn't convince everyone that Wiley hadn't fallen off, but 2 minutes 40 second of furious spitting was enough for most people. 

Year: 2012

Mixtape: #ItsAllFunAndGamesTill Vol. 1

Wiley openly admits that he makes both pop music, for the charts and the money, and grime music. The release of his most successful album so far, 2013's The Ascent, was preceded by lead single "Heatwave" in July 2012. The saccharine sweet party tune, with its pool party video (see the next slide), couldn't be further from the gritty simplicity of "Wot U Call It?," and the usual charges of sell-out where levelled at Wiley, to which he replied, with #ItsAllFunAndGamesTill Vol. 1, a free collection of "freestyles" over beats from some of the new school of grime producers. "Step 1," produced by Preditah, proves that Wiley can still flex when he wants to, while the whole collection and its companion Vol. 2 are strong throughout.

Year: 2012

Album: The Ascent

With over 10 years of grime under his belt, Wiley has quite clearly earned the right to make whatever music he wants, a right he's been asserting since 2008's See Clear Now, with its Mark Ronson and Hot Chip production and pop aims. Although seeing the Godfather of Grime making "gyal dem tunes" doesn't sit comfortably with many grime lovers, Wiley has released so much brilliant music throughout his career that if you don't like whatever his current single is, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of hours of his music to delve into.

The great thing about Wiley is that he never stops experimenting, and whether you like "Heatwave" or not (and let's be honest, probably not), that's something that should be saluted.

On November 3, Wiley released his tenth studio album, Snakes & Ladders, an impressive (although by no means perfect) record, devoid of chart aimed pop tracks, and introduced by the banging "On A Level." Yet another twist in Wiley's eventful career, but it seems that he's in love with grime again, and that can never be a bad thing. Listen to a few tracks from the album below and buy it here.