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Mar 27, 2012This album may not appeal to some (especially those heads looking strictly for lyricism and weighty content). However, fans of both grime and dubstep will undoubtedly enjoy this offering, and most notably: Wiley's evolution.
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Mar 23, 2012Evolve or be Extinct succeeds as both a collection of songs for public use--dancing, drinking, celebrating Christmas, protesting customs officials--and as a complex portrait of the artist who's sacrificed his sleep and sanity to create them.
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Feb 10, 2012Wiley's finally made the album that his talent warrants.
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MojoJan 31, 2012His best yet. [Feb 2012, p.98]
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Jan 18, 2012It takes a pretty special type of artist to release 11 zip files of music for free, follow that up with three albums within a year and still pique your interest when a new release crosses the doorstep. But such is the way of Wiley.
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Jan 12, 2012Every song has something to intrigue.
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Q MagazineJan 10, 2012[An album] that's up there with its maverick creator's best.[Feb. 2012 p. 105]
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Jan 9, 2012It's bonkers and frequently brilliant.
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Jan 17, 2012It's one of his best, a mostly single-minded return to the on-the-mic fierceness and computers-go-tribal rhythms that first made his name.
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Feb 17, 2012Warts and all, this is one of the strongest albums in Wiley's already impressive catalog.
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The WireJan 23, 2012Wiley is one of those rare double-threats, blessed with both production and MCing abilities. [Jan. 2012, p.64]
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Jan 12, 2012There is so much to be enjoyed on 'Evolve Or Be Extinct' though - such fluid virtuosity - that the occasional blip does not cloud the overall picture.
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Jan 10, 2012For all its innovativity and dogged determinism, the album's latter moments just can't compete with the top heavy appeal of its opening tracks.
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Jan 24, 2012At his best on "Evolve or Be Extinct", though, he reaches a pleasing mixture of understated beats and slice-of-life rhymes that are occasionally profound. At his worst, songs like "Scar" have neither beats nor rhymes I ever want to hear again.
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Feb 10, 2012His current tactic of quantity at the price of quality control does mean songs with less impact end up on record.
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Jan 30, 2012With pitfalls and all, Wiley is still going strong as artists come and go.
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Jan 17, 2012Over rudimentary backing beats, in that "ya feel me?" accent, his humour often hits the spot. However, the going-through-Customs skit, followed by a track about having his urine tested at the airport, is as tedious as it is righteous.
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UncutJan 9, 2012Quality is spotty, though. [Feb 2012, p.106]
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Jan 9, 2012Infuriatingly irresistible.
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Jan 9, 2012This feels like an album by, for and about himself.
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Feb 10, 2012On Evolve or be Extinct he spends an uncomfortable amount of time simply sounding doddery.
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Mar 21, 2012For all the banging beauty in its beats, Evolve or Be Extinct is too forced and uncomfortable, as though he figured he'd evolve if he just over-thought it enough.