Y Plas, Cardiff University Students Union
Sun 5 Feb
Wiley is the godfather of grime; hands down. No one seriously contests this. It’s almost unheard of to be absolutely sure of anyone’s dominance within their field; why is the case of Wiley Kat, the Eski-boy, born Richard Cowie, so different? Well, it’s not just the fact that he was the main trailblazer of the London beats-and-bars sound, an East London kid who changed music forever and has never really stopped doing new things.
Wiley can juggle mainstream success with the real, street music sound that he helped create. You might know him from chart storming tunes like Wearing My Rolex and Heatwave – tracks that intentionally bastardised the grime sound in order to achieve popularity and inspire dance moves in the UK’s high street drinking halls. At the same time, he’s never stopped producing brilliant music that is aware of its roots. Somehow, he’s never sold out (he reportedly turned down a fortune to appear in this year’s series of Celebrity Big Brother).
He could be described as the UK’s answer to Kanye West: enormously talented; blessed, or cursed, with a prodigious amount of what seems to be self-belief; subject to Twitter meltdowns. Though he’s not attracted the same ire that Kanye has, if he had the same audience he probably would. He’s a self-assured black man from humble beginnings who doesn’t feign humility anymore; he’s aware of his power, and that scares people.
Tickets: ÂŁ18.50. Info: 029 2078 1458