Show Notes
Wiley: The Godfather of Grime on Fame, Cancellation, Beef & the Truth About the Industry In this rare, unfiltered 2+ hour interview, He breaks down how jungle, garage, pirate radio, youth clubs, PAYG, and Roll Deep shaped grime, why no one person “started” the genre, and the evolution of his signature sound. Wiley speaks openly about fame, money, scrutiny, clashes, relationships with Dizzee Rascal, Skepta, Stormzy, Kano, Chip, Devlin, being cancelled, media influence, accountability, AI, and the future of grime.
Chapters:
0:00 Title 2:14 Welcome Wiley / why here 3:56 Why you don’t show up 6:16 Born & raised 7:10 School / outside life / beef 9:29 Siblings / Roll Deep / youth clubs 10:30 Musical influences / school music 12:02 American rap / writing lyrics 13:48 Wanted fame until I got it 15:10 Fame vs being human 16:21 Bonnie Blue / scrutiny 17:38 Jungle / Slimzee / name Wiley 19:34 Jungle to garage / PAYG 21:04 Record deal / money / MC style 21:56 Where school went wrong 22:35 Were garage MCs lyrical? 24:08 PAYG / Know Wee 24:38 Meeting Dizzee / new sound 25:51 Know Wee success / Maxwell D 27:01 Wiley flow / Dizzee 28:40 Is “Oi” grime? 30:09 Did So Solid start grime? 30:40 Bushkin: father of grime 31:11 PAYG vs HLC / no clash 33:30 Crew roles / PAYG ending 34:35 Helping Dizzee get signed 36:07 “Oi” / naming the scene 37:46 Grime legacy / hypocrisy 38:52 Wot Do You Call It / regrets 39:35 Origin of “grime” 40:33 No single founder 41:23 Clashes begin / moot 42:00 Lethal B clash 42:47 Uniting the scene 45:38 Dizzee / Ayia Napa fallout 47:55 Moving on solo 48:37 Dizzee & Eskimo Dance 49:44 Blocking unity 50:21 On stage together 52:12 Current music plans 53:11 Fame vs outside life 55:01 Kano clash / LOTM 55:45 Best MCs / Devlin 56:42 Mainstream success / Rolex 58:20 Face scar / not showing up 59:02 Money / spending / sharing 1:01:46 Crews vs solo 1:02:46 Chipmunk & Ice Kid 1:03:35 Why Chip blew 1:04:20 Grime direction / Twitter 1:06:51 Not feeling British 1:07:17 Ed Sheeran issue 1:09:25 Drake issue 1:15:37 Stormzy issue 1:22:57 Moving to Cyprus 1:24:09 Manager fallout 1:26:07 Being cancelled 1:27:23 Mental effects 1:28:36 Standing together 1:29:35 Learning & rebuilding 1:30:49 Streets = business 1:32:44 Tarnishing artists / Pow 1:34:01 Kanye / Diddy / outrage 1:37:30 Family impact 1:39:18 Raised without hate 1:40:35 Accountability 1:41:11 Too real for industry? 1:43:14 Relieved to be cancelled? 1:43:52 I’m not dumb 1:45:35 Food talk / comeback 1:47:12 Is grime yours? 1:48:25 Godfather title 1:49:09 Getting & losing MBE 1:51:26 Media is the devil 1:54:50 Why this interview 1:55:47 Media fearlessness 1:58:52 Ginga Jay cancelled? 2:04:29 Pen Game decision 2:07:03 Self-control / healing 2:09:03 Media tricks 2:11:26 Back to save grime 2:12:15 Thoughts on drill 2:13:24 Grime ≠ 140 BPM 2:14:30 Skepta UK vs USA 2:15:33 Skepta vs Joyner 2:18:09 Fixing grime beefs 2:20:11 Chip leadership 2:21:01 Singles vs albums 2:23:14 Younger generation 2:24:00 Big Smoke snub 2:25:11 Stormzy Glastonbury 2:27:05 AI / grime birth 2:30:09 Foundation / corruption 2:32:06 Rolex / Lethal B fees 2:35:00 Ungrateful / grime king 2:35:55 Grime vs drill / Central Cee 2:39:00 Boasty / Idris Elba 2:41:30 Stormzy praise / Chip 2:43:06 AI positives / flowers 2:45:37 Quick fire / thanks
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