Wiley – Race Against Time [Album Review]

So now we come to the album that I anticpated the most out of the three… Wiley’s ‘Race Against Time’. He promised this would be the grime album we all have been wating for following last years ‘See Clear Now’. Let’s see if he can deliever on his promise…

Headbanger: Oh damn! What a start! That beat is actually sick, shouts to Balistiq Beats. Is that an electic guitar!? Woooooah. The lyrics are crazy, the flow, wow. Wiley starts of by proving that he can still do this at the highest level, 9/10

She’s Glowin’ (Remix) ft. Ghetts and Kano: This ones been around for a while. Despite it’s fully auto-tuned affects, i think its actually sick. Its good to see these three guys making music together. Imagine if they did a grime track together though, wow! Back to this track… every MC has some nice bars, its a nice beat, it’s good. 8/10

Eyes Of The Lord: Well again, this beat is something different. I swear down only Wiley could get away with this kinda stuff. “You ain’t done a better CD in years”, “Just for the record, i’m better than your best MC by miles”. Wow, tell it how you feel Will! To be honest, he’s still a top 3 MC. Surely? Will this be THAT album we all want from Wiley?! 8/10

Hummer Activity: Back when this dropped, there were four versions made on this beat. One by each Wiley, JME, Ghetto and Kano. And Wileys is the only one i’ve heard since to be honest. He kills it, the beat by Danny Weed is sick, hence half the scene jumping on it. Grime > ____. 9/10

Off The Radar: Another sick Danny Weed beat. Why don’t we hear more stuff on this guys productions?! Wileys bars and flow are just crazy on this one! I liked See Clear Now, but this is the sort of music Wiley should always be making. Fuck money. “First grime kid on this earth… i’m going all out.” Thankfully, it would appear he is. 9/10

The Olly ft. MC Dream: OLLY OLLY OLLY… OI OI OI! Everyone knows that. Its a well made tune, slightly out of place on the album though. Pretty good however. 7/10

I Was Like You: This is so sweet. Maniacs productions are too good, he is the best prodcuer in the scene right now. No doubts in my eyes. Wiley smashes this tune up! I think this album has restored my faith in grime to be honest. 9/10

Race Against Time: The intro is incredible. This beat is so good. Guess who? Yep, that guy Maniac. I can’t wait till New Age Grime drops. Anyways, back to this tune. Wileys flow on grime is unmatched sometimes you know. The bars go together so well. 9/10

Too Many Man ft. Shorty, Skepta, JME and Frisco: Lol, see Skepta review for thoughts. 9/10

Where’s My Brother?: The best grime tune last year according to GrimeForum. Think they had a point actually. This is actually amazing. Bless Beats on the amazIng production, theres no denying the quality of this one, 10/10.

Out Of The Game: Shouts to Skeamz, getting his production on such a high level album. This one we’ve heard before as well, but once again, no doubting its quality. “The 21st century holds me responsible for grime kids that are going on raw”. Just a little quote to back up what we said about Eskimo being the most influential and best grime track ever. Wiley knows.  10/10

Bang: “He thinks he is the king of grime but he ain’t better than me though”. Woah! Shots at Skepta!? Lol. Anyways, Wileys provides the production on this one, proving he can still do it on the buttons as well. “You can ask all of Sidewinder… grime is the genre that I come from.” Glad to see Wiley still remembers his roots. He’s not a sell out, and don’t ever say he is, especially with an album like this following an album like ‘See Clear Now’. 9/10

Zip It Up ft. Giggs and Trigga: As i said earlier, i’m not the biggest Giggs fan, but once again, he smashes this! He speeds up his flow a bit, and its much better! Wiley on the other hand, slows his flow down. And likewise smashes it. However, comparing this to Skepta/Giggs track… i’m afraid to say Look Out is better. Don’t get it twisted, this is still awesome. 9/10

Average Worker: Wow, absolutely amazing Maniac beat. This is grime. No doubt about it. The best grime producer, and the best grime MC. (Yeah i said it). Everything they create together is pure fire. (See Bow E3, Grime Kid etc) Wow, this will get put on repeat. A lot. “If there wasn’t a Wiley wouldn’t be a Dot Rotten”. True though. Pioneered this shit. 10/10

Time Flies By: More autotune from Wiley, not quite show about that. But the beat is (as throughout the entire album) pretty darn sweet. Thankfully, the verses are spat, are to a high standard. Overall, its nice. 7/10

Music I Like: This is so so so so good, its unreal. Completely different vibe to the rest of the album, but it still somehow fits in. The beat is so soulful (yes, soulful). “Don’t tell me what music to write to”. Wiley tells it how he feels on this one, amazing. 10/10

So yeah, we’ve heard a fair few of these tunes before. But whats the difference between that and hearing half the albums bars on radio before? Nothing. Now i’m no Wiley fan boy like a lot of people out there who believe everything he does is instant classic… BUT… there is no denying that this album is actually brilliant. Its grime (for the most part). That was the important thing about this album, and he’s accomplished it. Well done Wiley. 9.5/10, fantastic album.

So out of the three, this is the one I would personally recommened. And don’t even ask me to choose out of Bashys/Skepta for the number 2 spot, cause I can’t. They are both equally as good. I hope that these three albums can prove to people that UK Music is just as good, if not better than any other nations music. Well done guys, you did yourself proud.