Evolve Or Be Extinct

On Wiley’s latest album, he muses; "I'm the rosé / Not the White Lightning". In some ways it's hard to believe that this is the same man that once hit us with the lines; "I know trouble, trouble said he don't know you / I know beef, beef said he don't know you", and maybe that's a good thing. It's well known within the British music industry that Wiley is…"eccentric". But on Richard Cowie's 9th album - his 3rd in 7 months - all one can say is 'damn, eccentricity can sound good'. Sparse production, his trademark humor and a startling capability for objective and affecting introspection make Evolve Or Be Extinct a disarming listen. He embraces and accepts the oddities of his character in a way that many in the UK grime scene as a whole seem to be afraid of. He still “chats bare sh*t" however and on "Immigration", he hits a dope boy flow as hard as anything this side of Gucci Mane's best. But it’s in his forays into surreal, lyrical streams of consciousness where he really shines... "Infants, genius, college / University, bowl of porridge", he raps on the wicked and barbed "Can I Have a Taxi Please?" Indeed, he is not the same road youth that first dominated pirate radio. He's more than that. Like a move up from White Lighting to a rosé, his prolific and relentless output seems to suggest that the end goal is to become Champagne. Well then, raise your glasses please.

Wiley - Evolve Or Be Extinct is out now on Big Dada