Origin: London, England
Decades: 2000's
Quite possibly the key U.K. grime player -- though he calls his knotty, brittle style "eski" or "eskibeat" -- producer and MC Wiley (born Richard Cowie) was a member of Pay as U Go Cartel and was later a founding member of Roll Deep Crew. Though he released a pair of strong albums during the early 2000s -- 2004's Treddin' on Thin Ice (XL) and 2007's Playtime Is Over (Big Dada) -- much of his best work as a producer has trickled out as white-label vinyl releases. Low-key, independent CD releases have ... Read More