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Track Listings
| 1. Welcome To Zion | |||
| 2. Evolve Or Be Extinct | |||
| 3. Link Up | |||
| 4. Boom Blast | |||
| 5. I'm Skanking | |||
| 6. Weirdo | |||
| 7. Scar | |||
| 8. Can I Have A Taxi Please? | |||
| 9. Miss You | |||
| 10. Money Man | |||
| 11. Customs | |||
| 12. Immigration | |||
| 13. Scar | |||
| 14. This Is Just An Album | |||
| 15. Can I Have A Taxi Please? | |||
| 16. Fire | |||
| 17. Miss You | |||
| 18. Cheer Up, It's Christmas | |||
| 19. Money Man | |||
| 20. Customs | |||
See all 22 tracks on this disc
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Product Description
Review
Evolve or Be Extinct, the ninth official Wiley album, allows him to claim something Barton can’t: a former employer who was willing to take him back. Big Dada released his second album Playtime Is Over in 2007 to less-than-resounding success; he would later flounce off and write chart smash Wearing My Rolex, but the mainstream proved an uneasy home. Which brings us to the man’s second album for Big Dada in six months: haphazard, sometimes ridiculous, often impressively inventive and always consummate Wiley.
While nearly every major player in grime’s last decade has either sweetened its feral, DIY sound for the pop charts, or vanished from public view, it’s heartening that Wiley – whose early 12-inches essentially blueprinted the genre – has made a grime album that could, musically speaking, be from 2004. That’s no bad thing: it’s a tonic to hear clashing, icy beats and rave-igniting bass of the like that fuels I’m Skanking, I’m a Weirdo and Money Man (produced by Mark Pritchard, currently of Africa HiTech), or the ultra-minimal closer This Is Just an Album. There are exceptions, such as the four-to-the-floor thumper Boom Blast, but Evolve… largely showcases a producer content to squat in his own self-created niche.
In fact, this feels like an album by, for and about himself. Most lyrics unapologetically address the life of Wiley; two baffling skits, in which he quarrels with a taxi driver and customs officer respectively, seem to play up to his hothead reputation. Evolve or Be Extinct will appeal largely to people already well aware of it, and who are looking for a full-length to rival his 2004 debut Treddin’ on Thin Ice. This should go some way to satisfying them.
--Noel Gardner
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Product Description
Customer Reviews
tracks comprising 'Evolve Or Be Extinct' proves that Wiley has been a
busy boy. He continues to plow his own furrow with his idiosyncratic,
fast-thinking, fast-rhyming style. Given the quantity of new material here
it is to his credit that there are very few dips in quality. The beats are
sharp, the bass-lines bouncy as a rubber ball and the words often very funny
(the playful swipes at Chipmunk and Calvin Harris on the title track are hilarious!)
There has been little musical or rhythmic evolution since his last outing
but it doesn't matter a jot with material as strong as this. Wiley has found
his groove and he's clearly happy to exploit its potential to the max but
there is a danger that he will reach the bottom of the pot soon if he doesn't
extend his range next time around. 'Boom Blast' might be a nod towards things
to come; it's a dance-friendly track which wouldn't sound out of place in
the hands of Dizzee Rascal, with its four-square funky beats and addictive
hook-line. Wiley manages a radio-friendly number without compromise however.
With so much to listen to it's hard to extract the winners but I particularly
enjoyed the bleeps and tweets of 'Weirdo', an invention which lets us into
the darker side of our host's imagination; the pithy wit of 'Customs', a skit
with some very funny vocal characterizations worthy of Peter Cook and Dudley
Moore in their heyday; the strut and swagger of 'No Love Lost' and the
curiously tender 'Life At Sea' where Wiley shows that he has a soft side too.
All-in-all 'Evolve Or Be Extinct' bravely manages not to overstay its
welcome. Wiley remains one of the finest wordsmiths of his generation.
Recommended.
troddlessss along.. one that'll sit on my computer getting the odd play
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