Wiley Essentials

Wiley Essentials

Grime MC Wiley revolutionised the UK's sound several times, introducing a new rhythmic template and sonic textures when the country's brand of hip-hop wasn't known for either. The twitchy, ping-pong pops of "Wot Do U Call It?" were a whimsical canvas as he mocked the press' efforts to compartmentalise this new aesthetic. He even went so far as to suggest that the genre be named "Eskimo"—after his tune of the same name, which skates on skittering rhythms and cold surfaces. On "Never Be Your Woman", perhaps influenced by his costar, Emeli Sandé, he smoothed his sound into a minimal, understated feel driven by hand drums.

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