Wiley - Treddin' on Thin Ice

Genre electronic Publisher XL/Beggars Group External Links Wiley XL Recordings

Like Kanye West did on his breakthrough album The College Dropout, London producer Wiley has shed the producer title, setting out on his own as a solo artist, determined to prove to the world that Dizzee Rascal is far from the only UK hip-hop voice worth listening to. And while young Dylan Mills (aka Dizzee) remains a supremely gifted, precociously talented artist, arguably the most important British artist today, it cannot be ignored that the whole sound of today's British urban music is heavily indebted to Wiley. After all, it was Wiley who formed the Roll Deep Crew, which included a young Dizzee Rascal, who were responsible for popularizing the tetchy, menacing, grime sounds of London's East End, with its tense combination of minimalist keyboard arrangements, strong dancehall influences, and stuttering, tightly wound two-step beats. After Dizzee went on to set the UK music scene ablaze with Boy in Da Corner, Wiley went on to prove his mettle as a composer, his three highly influential instrumentals "Eskimo", "Avalanche", and "Ice Rink" becoming popular club tracks, prompting him to dub his new sound, a sly blend of hip-hop and electronica, "Eski-beat".

Unlike Dizzee's first two albums, Wiley's debut full-length Treddin' on Thin Ice boasts extraordinarily sharp production, not to mention some admirable MC skills by Wiley himself, whose voice is clearer, more accessible, and less enigmatic that that of Dizzee, but while Wiley lacks the lyrical cleverness of his peer, the album makes up for it by its sheer wealth of hooks. "Wot Do U Call It?" hilariously lampoons the difficulty many have categorizing the sound ("Here in London there's a sound called garage/But this is my sound, it sure ain't garage"), as a simple, propulsive synth melody plows along at a frenetic pace. Orchestral samples provide the backdrop for Wiley's motivational tale "Pick UR Self UP", while "Goin' Mad" contains some of the album's most sparse arrangements, as the man takes center stage as an MC, displaying remarkable, rapid-fire vocal skill that dares to match both Big Boi and Gift of Gab.

If there's one disappointing aspect of Treddin' on Thin Ice, it's that the aforementioned singles "Eskimo", "Avalanche", and "Ice Rick", are presented in edited form, as painfully brief "interludes"; a real shame, for most North American listeners aren't familiar with the full tracks, and just having 50 seconds of each song do the tracks, and the album overall, a disservice. Still, this is a very likeable album, as Wiley possesses both sincerity and gentle humor, not to mention some ace skills behind the board, and it all comes together best on the gorgeous "Special Girl", as he yearns for the perfect woman, his thoughts coming from above the neck instead of below the belt, while an extremely catchy vocal sample punctuates each line. As Dizzee Rascal has proven, the student has eclipsed the teacher, but in Wiley's case, the teacher still has plenty of good music left in him.