Wiley is giving Stormzy his flowers despite their apparent rivalry following a vicious rap beef.
The Godfather of the U.K. Grime scene addressed the feud during a recent in-depth interview on Jibber with Jaber. When the topic turned to the genre’s biggest artists of the modern era, Wiley paid tribute to Stormzy.
“The most recent grime MC/whatever rapper you’ve had is Stormzy. Big respect for Stormzy,” Wiley said before being challenged.
“Now?” the host questioned, in reference to their past beef. Wiley explained they were participating in the “sport of Grime,” adding that he didn’t really want to go back and forth with Stormzy. “I’ve said that to him. ‘I felt bad because you’re not from my day of Grime.”
When asked if they now “cool,” Wiley replied that while he hadn’t seen Stormzy, he believes the South Londoner is aware of “the business.”
He explained, “that means we’re on the same side,” before adding that Stormzy is one of the biggest artists in the scene. “So right now, they’ll put him up there,” Wiley continued. “Now other people who are not up there from his era will be like, ‘oh he’s not even good’.”
The U.K. Grime scene legend continued: “I actually got big respect for him because I know that it’s not easy to come in the game and do everything that he’s done and earn all that money without having your head screwed on.”
Wiley also acknowledged Stormzy excelled in such a short period partly due to the groundwork he and his peers put in. Watch the interview in full below.
The beef began in 2020 after Wiley criticized Stormzy for working with Ed Sheeran. The pair sent shots back and forth on explosive diss tracks. The “Vossi Bop” hitmaker branded the grime pioneer a “crackhead c**t” on Disappointed.” Wiley fired back with a threat to attack his rap rivals’ mother on “Eediyat Skengman 2.”
While Wiley has been keeping a relatively low profile of late, Stormzy is gearing up to release new music. His third studio album, This Is What I Mean, is due to arrive next month following the release of the single “Mel Made Me Do It.” He shared the song with its iconic video last month after a nearly three-years long absence.
