New Music First! Wiley ‘Up A Level’
In an industry where mega-stars such as Radiohead and Prince give their music away for free, you may stop to wonder how less famous artists make a living from selling records. It’s clearly not something that worries UK rapper Wiley. After a fiery spat with his manager Wiley made the unprecedented decision to leak his entire unreleased back catalogue through his Twitter feed – a move that probably jolted his label into a sense of disbelief.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Wiley’s long endured a tumultuous relationship with the music industry. He’s been signed, and subsequently dropped, by Atlantic, Big Dadda and XL. However with a number one under his belt with his grime collective Roll Deep and a new album with Island Records on the way things were looking up for Wiley. The possibility of that new album actually appearing is now anyone’s guess: the only thing that’s clear is that there are 203 previously unreleased Wiley tracks now floating through cyber space.
For more info you should check out this great article in the Guardian which goes someway to explaining the artist’s apparent moment of madness.
Check out ‘Up A Level’ above, one of the highlights of the leaked material so far.
