Wiley Zip Files - The Interview

If there's one thing world-weary Wileyologists have learned, it's to never be surprised by anything he does.

*Here’s the ~breaking news~ Guardian blog post I wrote about Wiley’s incredible Zip Files give-away.

*Here’s the interview I did with Wiley for today’s Guardian g2.

*And here’s an interview out-take where Wiley seemed to be describing the hardcore continuum for a minute, before sullying its ideological purity with ragga and Rick Astley. D’oh!

British music evolves so quickly doesn’t it?

“Yeah – and I like all the elements that we’ve got. When I go to the studio now I stop and I think ‘right, I’m in England’. The music in this country that I’ve been a part of is hardcore, drum ‘n’ bass, jungle, it extends onto garage and then into grime. And if you go back before any of that my dad’s just flooded my brain with reggae, ragga, soul, jazz… so obviously if I’m going to go and make music, I am surely allowed to touch every one of those elements that has been clubbed into my soul.”

“It’s all part of it – Rebel MC, Ragga Twins… even Rick Astley, Kylie Minogue; any pop music that came out in the days when I went to school. Whatever I’ve heard is a fusion of what I give back.”

He also admiringly described Tinie Tempah's 'Pass Out' as "an Eskimo moment" (albeit mostly for Labyrinth's production on the track), i.e. an agenda-setting new 4 minute paradigm for how to make pop music.