DJ Love: Wiley

With grime in the midst of a meteoric rise, Stormzy and Skepta are flying the flag as the genre inexplicably delves into the mainstream. The resurgence has seen a surge in support for the sound, the rebellious undertones captivating people across the globe, but grime is far from a new flavour, it stems way back to the early noughties when garage was lying on its metaphorical deathbed.

So Solid Crew were at the forefront of it, preparing themselves to pass the baton on as garage took the backseat while Wiley put the key in ignition to accelerate with grime. While other MCs may now be stealing the headlines, there is no denying the influence that Wiley had on them and the grime scene as a whole.

Wiley’s first foray into music came as a 14-year-old on Hackney radio station Chillin FM before branching off onto other pirate radio stations like Rinse in his later teens. His breakthrough came under the pseudonym of Phaze One as his track 'Nicole’s Groove' evidenced his flair as a producer, which led to him making waves with garage crews SS Crew, The Ladies Hit Squad and later Pay As U Go Cartel.

As Wiley transitioned from working the decks to spitting lyrics on the microphone, a Top 20 chart hit with ‘Champagne Dance’ was not enough to keep the Pay As U Go Cartel together and alas they separated. This encouraged Wiley to dabble with his own sound, he coined it ‘Eskibeat’, which would later evolve into the grime that we know today.

In the infancy of grime, Wiley formed Roll Deep alongside Dizzee Rascal and Tinchy Stryder. The pair are only two notable names that were associated with him, not to mention pop sensation Ed Sheeran and Grime veterans Skepta and Kano. It is testament to Wiley that he has always surrounded himself with artists that have gone on to forge successful careers in the industry. He has always had an eye for talent as he has continuously pushed the careers of others whilst shaping his own legacy.

Our fondest of Wiley moments is a video of a clash against Lethal Bizzle, it's raw, aggressive, energetic and frenzied. The low quality video footage only further supplemented the nostalgia of the duals. Those type of moment were plentiful at Eskimo Dance and Lord of the Mics (Wiley has since resurrected the former), both of which are legendary in the timeline of grime. Credit must be given to Wiley and Jammer respectively for the creation of such iconic events.

Despite recently entering his late thirties, Wiley has been championing grime with the same youthful exuberance that he had from day one. A true master of his craft, his relentless appetite for producing and lacing lyrics on the microphone have been unparalleled over the years. Ten albums in ten years spanning 2004-2014 speaks volumes about the work ethic of a man at the forefront of the genre.

Although Wiley will go down in grime folklore as a major player in the sound’s inception, his pop cross-over has served to widen his spectrum of appeal. ‘Wearing My Rolex’ was a poignant track that demonstrated his ability to seamlessly transition toward commercial finesse. Where others would normally make their bed, Wiley has always had the nous to alternate between grime and pop bangers as he demonstrated with pop-hit ‘Heatwave’ in 2013 to shades of old school grime with ‘On a Level’ in 2014.

Wiley is to grime what Nas is to hip-hop, an innovator and an inspiration to those who are treading on the path that he created. With a book and a film in the pipeline and an abundance of Eskimo Dance dates coming up, Wiley shows no signs of putting on the breaks.

As Stormzy said, “You have to pay homage to the godfather,” and there is no doubt that his masses of lyrical content will lure in more people to start their grimey love affair with Wiley for years to come.

Check out the upcoming Eskimo Dance tour dates.

Like this? Dig into A love affair with DJ EZ.