For quite a bit of the last year I've been trying to work out just what it was that felt wrong or underwhelming about the Skepta album, whether it just came out at the right time or not, it just didn't seem to deserve its immediately canonized, exalted status. I don't begrudge him or anyone else their moment of success, but as a cresting-the-wave album, I dunno if it was the slower tempos or his more heads-down style or what, but it just didn't feel as exciting as it should have.
Listening to this new Wiley album I immediately know why. Someone dutifully starts a thread for every new Wiley album, and they're always good if you isolate the four or five best tracks, or if you squint a bit, or if you overlook a verse here or there. But on this one there's a brief moment of reflection, of surveying the scene on the opening track, and then the intensity barely lets up for a second of the next 16 tracks. MCs cannon into each other like they were always supposed to, Wiley sounds fired up and switched on and like he actually gives a shit, the beats feel genuinely rooted in garage and eskibeat rather than badly translated trap beats. Like, this finally feels like the album he was meant to make all along, the sort of grime album that people should have been releasing from the start, and almost never did.
Cracking Bucky O'Hare reference as well.
― Matt DC, Thursday, 19 January 2017 14:04 (seven years ago) link
i'm not a lager lout but i'm still throwing bars about <3
― lex pretend, Monday, 23 January 2017 13:39 (seven years ago) link
a hook on one of the biggest bangers dedicated to his pension <3
agree about the skepta album too, think its album-qua-albumness really suffered from the two best and biggest tracks being so old. it was the album the scene needed at that particular time and fulfilled its function very efficiently
― lex pretend, Monday, 23 January 2017 13:41 (seven years ago) link
and ofc it deserved the mercury, album that worked best as a symbol for a prize that elevates albums to meaningless symbols
It's also that Skepta isn't a particularly engaging personality, he has force and can turn out bangers without even thinking about it but you don't want to get inside his head in the way you did with peak Dizzee and Wiley.
― Matt DC, Monday, 23 January 2017 13:43 (seven years ago) link
Anyway there's barely a wasted moment on this one, I'm even prepared to allow him the song about his laptop.
Reading recent Wiley interviews you get the distinct sense that he's much prouder of the groundwork he laid for the scene than he is of any of his music, and certainly you get that sense here, except this time round the music is actually good enough to dispel that.
― Matt DC, Monday, 23 January 2017 13:46 (seven years ago) link
i mean, he got/made some fucking incredible beats for this
it's kind of apt given his song about p money that they both ended up with similar full-throttle approaches to their albums
― lex pretend, Monday, 23 January 2017 13:49 (seven years ago) link
This is so good. Banger after banger
― paolo, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 10:42 (seven years ago) link
the sort of grime album that people should have been releasing from the start, and almost never did.
I've only listened to this once but I already feel this is probably the best grime album apart from Boy In Da Corner. Grime artists just aren't very good at albums. Dizzee's went downhill after BIDC. Wiley's other albums have been decent but not great. Konnichiwa and Made In The Manor from last year were OK
― paolo, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 10:46 (seven years ago) link
Then again, UK urban artists in general aren't very good at albums
― paolo, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 10:47 (seven years ago) link
It's good to see a whole bunch of MCs and producers from back in the day still killing it on this as well >>>
― paolo, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 10:48 (seven years ago) link
D Double just launching into 'Follow The Leader' is my favourite moment right now but they're all over the place. Good to hear Flow Dan on something that isn't conspicuous realness for night bus wonks.
― Matt DC, Wednesday, 25 January 2017 10:53 (seven years ago) link
Man, this thing just fucking goes. Could lose 'U Were Always' just to keep up the momentum but apart from that it's straight bangers.
― devvvine, Sunday, 5 February 2017 10:37 (seven years ago) link
So many good hooks on this. Just about every track has a catchy chorus. I don't know if this is Wiley consciously going for mainstream success or what (good luck to him if he is though)
― paolo, Monday, 6 February 2017 17:35 (seven years ago) link
Tons of hooks but musically super pared back, hard and clanky. I like that Wiley and grime are both old enough to produce an o.g. back to basics album. Would be nice if it inspired Dizzee to do the same.
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Monday, 6 February 2017 19:09 (seven years ago) link
Apparently he went back over a shitload of his old music and decided what worked and what didn't, then put that into action here. His main conclusion appears to have been 'don't let the intensity drop'.
I thought resurrecting U Were Always was lame at first but I couldn't do without it now.
― Matt DC, Monday, 6 February 2017 22:00 (seven years ago) link
that Ice Kid verse on "On This" is fucking :D :D :D niiiiiice
― sheer presence, look and size (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 17:49 (seven years ago) link
anyway this whole thing is A1 i might even end up listening to it as a whole album more than my usual couple of initial goes
― sheer presence, look and size (Noodle Vague), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 17:50 (seven years ago) link
so this isn't even on the album? it goes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr5zkI3J93g
i wasn't really into 'U Were Always' but everything else i'm hearing from the album is great, will definitely have to hear the whole thing.
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 18:13 (seven years ago) link
this was a good profilehttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/24/wiley-godfather-grime
― suggest bannon (||||||||), Tuesday, 7 February 2017 18:36 (seven years ago) link
this album
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 11:16 (seven years ago) link
the beat on "can't go wrong" my lord
the ramped-up menace of the beats - prancing, taunting, flashing steel - rubs so nicely up against wiley's goofy, grumpy earnestness
none of it's really "funky" exactly but it does remind me of the unflagging density of a fuller/hurricane era funkystepz mixtape
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 11:23 (seven years ago) link
"u were always" such a well-deserved dre-style victory lap
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 11:24 (seven years ago) link
otm re the beats, just full of energy and feel like they're as excited as me about Wiley getting shit done. The earnestness of 'laptop' is amazing.
― devvvine, Wednesday, 8 February 2017 11:45 (seven years ago) link
the beat to the laptop song is UNREAL! i would listen to an instrumental of that on loop forever
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 11:49 (seven years ago) link
maybe i'd just feel like i was listening to a particularly good hessle audio track or something then tho lol.
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 12:00 (seven years ago) link
Finally realised what Wiley's "Macbook Pro Forever...Trust me" gospel reminded me of
https://vine.co/v/erX66WYXx6p
― devvvine, Wednesday, 8 February 2017 12:07 (seven years ago) link
"Can't Go Wrong" replaces "6 in the Morning" as the low brass banger I guess, but you can't have too many of those.
― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, 8 February 2017 18:40 (seven years ago) link
On my first listen I was thinking it is impressive but maybe too much of the same, but now I love it - it is jampacked with bangers right up till the penultimate track. Fucking excellent!
― calzino, Thursday, 9 February 2017 14:15 (seven years ago) link
Joe Bloggs is a masterpiece and the lyrics are hilarious:I stay away from knobsIf there's a known probabilityThen I'm gonna tell man, "Probs"
― calzino, Thursday, 9 February 2017 14:35 (seven years ago) link
That track is basically a grimy cockney knees-up. Which is obviously a good thing
― paolo, Thursday, 9 February 2017 15:42 (seven years ago) link
Friday night work finished this album massive grin so hype BANG BANG
― Treesh-Hurt (Noodle Vague), Friday, 17 February 2017 16:46 (seven years ago) link
very deserved victory lap
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 29 May 2017 11:45 (seven years ago) link
nobody?
on first listen Godfather II maybe not quite as immediately impressive but it's still v good. weirdly my favourite so far is the romance track "Certified"
"we both working every day around the clock / I hit the Spar, she go and get herself pampered"
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 27 April 2018 09:11 (six years ago) link
i literally went TWO stops too far this morning listening to this album lol
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Friday, 27 April 2018 09:12 (six years ago) link
it's a v good album, no doubt
― niels, Friday, 27 April 2018 09:30 (six years ago) link
More uneven but has higher highs imo. 'Certified' and 'Remember Me' are my faves.
― Mercer Finn, Monday, 28 May 2018 09:03 (six years ago) link
godfather I is a stone-cold classic
can someone versed in godfather II pls suggest a sequenced godfather best-of
― ||||||||, Saturday, 15 December 2018 11:15 (five years ago) link
I haven't once wanted to go back to Godfather II, it feels like all the consistency and focus drained away and it was roughly on a par with the string of albums he released before that. Wiley's Flip The Table Freestyle is more exciting than anything on this year's album even if it does just amount to a massive tantrum.
― Matt DC, Saturday, 15 December 2018 12:56 (five years ago) link
Yeah it didn't thrill me like I
― I Accept the Word of Santa (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 15 December 2018 12:58 (five years ago) link
boasty is getting pop radio airplay here
― maura, Thursday, 16 May 2019 23:08 (five years ago) link
i guess Sean Paul on the track helps w that! lol @ "izzit". Wiley coasting on this one obv
― Lil' Brexit (Tracer Hand), Friday, 17 May 2019 00:01 (five years ago) link
It's all kicking off on Twitter. Wiley's been beefing Stormzy, Dot Rotten, Jaykae and AJ Tracey. I blame Dot for sending for everyone last month and getting him all worked up.
― paolo, Sunday, 5 January 2020 16:13 (four years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEkRL0bZa_c
You never cared about grime you just used itWorse than Ed with your watered down music
― paolo, Sunday, 5 January 2020 16:14 (four years ago) link
Hoping Stormz actually replies
― paolo, Sunday, 5 January 2020 16:15 (four years ago) link
must suck for Wiley that the top search result for his name on Spotify is "Wiley Flow"
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Monday, 6 January 2020 17:48 (four years ago) link
He did reply!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73mygGW27LM
― Graham Kendrick Lamar (cajunsunday), Monday, 6 January 2020 18:11 (four years ago) link
A strong effort from Wiley but round one goes to Stormzy for me
― paolo, Monday, 6 January 2020 18:22 (four years ago) link
oooohhh shiiiiiiiit
I have no preference :-)
(See, if ILM's Dinosaur v Dinosaur Poll Bands would have a beef-off, THEN they'd be interesting)
― sbahnhof, Tuesday, 7 January 2020 09:06 (four years ago) link
jeez, wiley dropped his THIRD dis track today responding to Stormzys second one. dunno how much i like the individual tracks but it's kind of amazing that it's going on for weeks
― Fuck the NRA (ulysses), Friday, 31 January 2020 15:51 (four years ago) link
just cuz Wiley's still dropping tracks, doesn't mean it's still actually on
(I haven't heard the last couple replies I just thought that would sound cool)
― lukas, Friday, 31 January 2020 17:19 (four years ago) link
The Godfather III is out today, and after one listen I'm going to say it's OK. It's a typical Wiley album in that there's a few decent tracks and quite a lot of filler.
He's also said in the Guardian that he's retiring (not bloody likely) and that he's cool with Stormzy now, which is nice to hear.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jun/05/wiley-on-his-final-album-i-need-to-not-let-grime-die-on-the-way-out
― paolo, Sunday, 7 June 2020 15:01 (four years ago) link
godfather i not on spotify??
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 14 November 2020 13:40 (three years ago) link
never been on Youtube even iirc
― big man on scampus (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:07 (three years ago) link
it was definitely on spotify before!
― Li'l Brexit (Tracer Hand), Saturday, 14 November 2020 16:07 (three years ago) link