For the longest time, I felt sorry for Wiley, since he was a victim of bad timing in America. After Dizzee Rascal made a splash in America in 2003 and people were hungry to learn more about grime and U.K. hip hop in general. Unfortunately, nobody anticipated this very well, as there were no immediate follow ups in the States to Boy in Da Corner. When Wiley’s debut, Treddin’ On Thin Ice, finally reached the States about ten months later, it was of course unfairly held against Boy in Da Corner in comparison and deemed a failure. These days, though, the sensation has long since passed and with no newness of artists or genre to distort my vision, it’s much easier to inspect Wiley’s new album objectively. His latest effort, Evolve or Be Extinct, a two-disc effort, had all the promises of being a huge statement record. Instead, it comes across as a frustrating mess.

There are certainly points of interest on the album, but it’s easy to lose sight of them amidst all the bad choices that Wiley makes both lyrically and musically. To put it another way, there are highs and lows, but the lows are more frequent and much greater than any of the highs. Trouble starts at the opening track, “Welcome to Zion.” It’s a very boring beat, with an uninspired chorus that just repeats the phrase “welcome to Zion” over and over. This is bad enough, but the lyrics really gave me pause. In the second verse, Wiley states, “It’s a place that I want to be in/The queens and princesses that I’m seeing/Got me in a daze like ‘What am I seeing?’/The best spices of the female being/I’ma find one stick to her like glue/I know her, but babe I like you/I wanna chill in the garden, I’m in the mood/You’re in the kitchen cooking up our food.”” This chauvinistic 12-year-old-boy’s version of paradise leaves a lot to be desired, especially when written by a thirty-three-year-old emcee who in theory should be able to dream bigger and have a more inclusive vision of the promised land. The title track that follows is much more exciting, with a frantic beat that sounds great with the speakers turned up as Wiley throws down some battle raps, giving promise that the first track was just a hiccup. However, this is followed by “Link Up,” which has an exciting and sexy beat, but features some really uninspired lyrics about trying to hook up with a girl. “Boom Blast” is the most fun song on the album, with a great disco-dance beat that’s pretty irresistible to dancing. The lyrics are fairly generic, but in the case of a song like this, an emcee really just has to keep the song moving and not say anything ridiculous. From there on, it’s a balance of about one or two bad tracks for every good one. “Scar” is a great swagger song, but you have to get through the bad ideas of “I’m Skanking” and “Weirdo” first. The biggest misses on the album, though are the sketches. “Can I Have A Taxi Please?” is three wasted minutes of a decent beat as Wiley calls for different taxis and gets annoyed. I have no idea what he was trying to convey with the song. Even worse and more pointless is “Customs,” a four minute skit that drags on for what feels like ten to an eternity as Wiley goes back and forth with a customs officer who politely checks him for drugs as he’s en route to Barbados and Wiley gets annoyed because he tests positive for weed and they want to take him in for further screening. I don’t know what Wiley was going for, but all it accomplishes is making Wiley look a little stupid and spoiled for getting annoyed when he’s at fault for being stoned when trying to pass through customs. This segues into “Immigration,” a song that continues on this theme. In isolation, the song actually would have been much more successful in portraying customs agents as bullies, but with the proceeding skit putting Wiley in such a bad light, the song comes across as really whiny. “I’m Only Human,” featuring Cashtastic and Thereza Delzz sounds like every Rihanna song I desperately try to avoid, and for that reason I cringe whenever that songs starts and quickly start to the next track. “This is Just an Album” is another glimpse at what a good album from Wiley could sound like, as he spits about trying to make music and take care of his family over a minimalist beat. I could go on, but there are nine more tracks after this one, and I think everyone’s gotten the point by now.

I wish I could champion Wiley as an artist that didn’t get a fair chance in crossing over to America, but this is not the album to do it. Evolve or be Extinct is a double album filled with an EP’s worth of good ideas. There are a few moments to get excited about, but there’s so much bad material to sort through it’s almost not worth it.