Ask yourself this, how tuned into new sounds are you? Well if you think the the answer is ‘very’ you need to fix up quickly and get this album on to your play list- I promise you will not be disappointed. Grime is currently enjoying an upsurge of almost un-paralleled trajectory and one of the great things about the genre is its unequivocal approach to embracing a vast array of other genres by begging, borrowing or stealing anything it needs to keep itself moving relentlessly forward.
With 15 years in the game, Wiley is widely viewed as one of the founding fathers of the all-encompassing Grime movement. He has constantly been at the forefront in the musics evolution and constant image readjustments. The album “100% Publishing” not only epitomises the Genres musical roots but fiercely pushes them forward, as if to challenge the inventiveness of grime itself. The album is faultless, but “100% Publishing” is almost a genial showcase of what the scene can still achieve by following the blueprint of using any sounds at its disposal to constantly reinvigorate not only itself but its ever growing following.
As with any music of this type the right production is essential, as we have all been subjected to tracks or at times entire albums which, to put it bluntly, are essentially layers of samples stacked high to form a wailing heap of distortion. That was never going to be the case with this album as the artist is his own producer, and at times the word sublime must be awarded to the sound and the skill with which it was constructed. Stand out examples would be ‘Wise Man and ‘His Words’ which has an almost absurd piano riff that works beautifully. ‘Talk About Life’ and ‘Up There’ are teetering dangerously on the brink of RnB, albeit RnB with the unmistakable stamp of underground Grime. ‘Pink Lady’ and ‘One Hit Wonder’ seem to be constructed entirely out of “bleeps” and “squelches” (seriously!), but turned into music instead of something for your games console.
Remember that age old refrain from any Circus with a stripy tent? Well listen to track four and see what this much coveted producer has done to it. ‘Boom Boom da Na’ is sheer class; “boom boom da na na na, boom boom” goes the sample followed by a gritty bassline backed up by a inexhaustible flow of earthy lyrics encompassing virtually all facets of his life and career. It is an unadulterated underground grime celebration of seemingly mundane everyday life.
‘100% Publishing’ is quite simply an outstanding piece of work from an artist & producer who first distorted the likes of ‘Jungle’ and ‘Drum n Bass’ to provide us with a new musical direction. Including something for all fan levels, this album is a play list must have!
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