We need to talk about Wiley

I'm dedicating this extended blog post to east London grime artist Wiley. Not because I think he's great, but because I think he's, well, a bit weird.

Every interview I come across, he rants about another artist. He's well known for hating Lethal Bizzle. But who else is on his target list?

EXHIBIT A: an interview he did with Time Out magazine last year. He says: 'You know what, yeah? People think I'm mad. I understand why, but I'm not mad. I am actually quite sane... I'm tired of all the talking. I just want to make music.'

He then has a dig at Dizzee Rascal (nothing new there, then. But I'm definitely with Team Dizzee on this one - having known him for three years I can safely say he's a very nice chap indeed.) Wiley also throws in a dig at pop cutie Tinchy Stryder, bizarrely proclaiming: 'I am Tinchy Stryder. I literally am him.' Right.

EXHIBIT B: this hilarious video with my new buddy Nabil Abdul Rashid, a stand-up comedian who interviewed Willy, I mean Wiley, for his comedy sketch programme, The Sho Sho Show, on urban music broadcaster Channel AKA. Doesn't seem like Wiley's 'tired of all the talking' here, huh?



(If anyone can explain why he says his new name is Joe 91, please do. Frankly, I'm baffled.)

EXHIBIT C: Wiley vs J Weezy - an MC battle outside Iceland, no less. J Weezy clearly has some sort of hyperactive ADHD thing going on, and Wiley takes this opportunity to show off his amazing MCing skills. Sorry - did I say amazing? I meant turd.



EXHIBIT D: Wiley's track 'Never Be Your Woman' (the Herve mix is out at the end of the month.) It's a remix of the 1997 White Town original, and it's utter gash. It follows the Wiley formula of bragging about himself, his cars, etc etc. But why he's picked this vocal is beyond me - why can't Wiley ever be my woman? Gravity Skanker thinks the lady doth protest too much.

I'll end this piece with a fantastic retort by grime hotshot Skepta. Yes, you guessed it - he's been on the receiving end of Wiley's potty mouth, too. This is what Skepta, a north Londoner like myself, has to say in return:

Charlie Brooker is a hater

I was sent this link today by a DJ/producer friend of mine who, despite making a living from the music industry, shares Charlie Brooker's sentiments on how crap clubbing is.

In his Guardian column, Brooker says: 'The second thing that struck me was frightening. They were all photographing themselves. In fact, that's all they seemed to be doing.' In September I went to a Tinchy Stryder gig at Shepherd's Bush Empire. I took a picture of all the people taking pictures of... a curtain. Voila:

So on that point, I'm with Brooker. The rest of his piece, however, is rubbish - he clearly doesn't like music enough.

Click here to read Brooker's 'Nightclubs Are Hell' article.