Alex Wiley

Last updated
Alex Wiley
Birth nameAlexander William Wiley [1]
Born (1993-06-05) June 5, 1993 (age 31)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Genres Hip hop
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2011-present
Labels
  • Closed Sessions
  • The Village

Alexander William Wiley (born June 5, 1993) is an American rapper from Chicago, Illinois. He released his first album Club Wiley in May 2013, followed by two more albums Village Party and Village Party 2: Heaven's Gates. [2] [3]

Contents

Musical career

1994-2010: Early life

Alex began interest in music in grade school when he began playing the violin. Soon after, he began making hip hop music. In high school, he joined a record imprint called "The Village" with Kembe X, Monster Mike, Isaiah Rashad, Jean Deaux, Spiff, and The Magician. [4]

2011-present: Various mixtapes and build on his buzz

In November 2015, Wiley released Village Party 2: Heaven's Gate. The album includes a guest feature from Chance the Rapper and Kembe X. The album received high acclaim, eventually ranking among the top 40 albums on iTunes. Since then, Wiley has also worked with other highly acclaimed artists such as Hoodie Allen, Vic Mensa, and more.

Alex was featured on Chance the Rapper's 2016 song "Grown Ass Kid." However, due to clearance issues and the leaking of the song prior to the release, the song was not included on Chance's mixtape, Coloring Book .

Discography

Extended plays

TitleAlbum details
Can I Borrow a Dollar EP (with Kembe X)
  • Released: March 3, 2012
  • Format: Digital Download
one singular flame emoji
  • Released: March 10, 2015
  • Format: Digital Download

Mixtapes

TitleAlbum details
Club Wiley
  • Released: May 5, 2013
  • Format: Digital Download
Village Party
  • Released: June 5, 2014
  • Format: Digital Download
Village Party 2: Heavens Gate
  • Released: November 20, 2015
  • Format: Digital Download
Tangerine Dream
  • Released: June 12, 2016
  • Format: Digital Download
Village Party III: Stoner Symphony
  • Released: January 18, 2017
  • Format: Digital Download
Synthia Part 1: Dial Tone
  • Released: September 21, 2017
  • Format: Digital Download
Tangerine Dream II
  • Released: February 22, 2019
  • Format: Digital Download

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common (rapper)</span> American rapper and actor (born 1972)

Lonnie Rashid Lynn, known professionally as Common, is an American rapper and actor from Chicago, Illinois. He is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. At 20, he first signed with the independent label Relativity Records to release his debut studio album Can I Borrow a Dollar? (1992), which was met with critical acclaim along with its follow-ups, Resurrection (1994) and One Day It'll All Make Sense (1997). He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s, and achieved mainstream success through his work with the Black music collective, Soulquarians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rap rock</span> Music genre combining hip hop and rock

Rap rock is a music genre that developed from the early to mid-1980s, when hip hop DJs incorporated rock records into their routines and rappers began incorporating original and sampled rock instrumentation into hip hop music. Rap rock is considered to be rock music in which lyrics are rapped, rather than sung. The genre achieved its greatest success in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeru the Damaja</span> American rapper from New York

Kendrick Jeru Davis, known as Jeru the Damaja, is an American rapper and record producer. He is known for his 1993 single "Come Clean" from his debut album, The Sun Rises in the East, ranked as one of the 100 greatest hip-hop albums of all time by the editors of About.com. He has worked extensively with Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr, whom he has known since he was in high school.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahamadia</span> American rapper

Antonia D. Reed, known professionally as Bahamadia, is an American hip hop artist and singer. Bahamadia released her debut album, Kollage, in 1996, followed by the independently released EP BB Queen in 2000. She then released a full-length album, Good Rap Music, in 2005. Bahamadia has also released the singles "Dialed Up Vol. 1", "Here", and "Dialed Up Vol. 2".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9th Wonder</span> American record producer (born 1975)

Patrick Denard Douthit, better known as 9th Wonder, is an American hip hop producer, record executive, and DJ from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who is also teaching faculty at North Carolina Central University and Duke University, where he collaborates with Professor Mark Anthony Neal.

Asian hip hop is a heterogeneous musical genre that covers all hip hop music as recorded and produced by artists of Asian origin.

<i>Acid Rap</i> 2013 mixtape by Chance the Rapper

Acid Rap is the second mixtape by American rapper Chance the Rapper. It was released on April 30, 2013, as a free digital download. In July 2013, the mixtape debuted at number 63 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, due to bootleg downloads on iTunes and Amazon not affiliated with the artist. The mixtape has been certified "diamond" on mixtape site Datpiff, for garnering over 1,000,000 downloads. It was rereleased on streaming services on June 21, 2019, alongside his 2012 mixtape 10 Day. A 10th anniversary Complete Edition was later released, including the full version of "Juice", which previously wasn't available for streaming due to sampling issues.

Hip hop or hip-hop, also known as rap and formerly as disco rap, is a genre of popular music that originated in the early 1970s from African Americans and Afro-Caribbean immigrants in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. Hip-hop music originated as an anti-drug and anti-violence genre consisting of stylized rhythmic music that often accompanies rapping, a rhythmic delivery of poetic speech. In the early 1990s, a professor of African American studies at Temple University said, "Hip-hop is something that blacks can unequivocally claim as their own." By the 21st century, the field of rappers had diversified by both race and gender. The music developed as part of the broader hip-hop culture, a subculture defined by four key stylistic elements: MCing/rapping, DJing/scratching with turntables, breakdancing, and graffiti art. While often used to refer solely to rapping and rap music, "hip hop" more properly denotes the practice of the entire subculture. The term hip hop music is sometimes used synonymously with the term rap music, though rapping is not a required component of hip hop music; the genre may also incorporate other elements of the culture, including DJing, turntablism, scratching, beatboxing, and instrumental tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Rock</span> American rapper

Johnny Reed McKinzie Jr., better known by his stage name Jay Rock, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Los Angeles, he signed with local independent label Top Dawg Entertainment (TDE) in 2005. He secured a major label joint venture deal with Warner Bros. Records and Asylum Records to release his 2008 debut single, "All My Life ". Failing to chart, the mergers fell through and Rock departed from both of the latter labels shortly after. He then signed with Missouri rapper Tech N9ne's label Strange Music in a joint venture deal with TDE in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. Cole</span> American rapper and record producer (born 1985)

Jermaine Lamarr Cole is an American rapper and record producer. Born on a military base in Germany and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina, Cole initially gained attention as a rapper following the release of his debut mixtape, The Come Up, in early 2007. Intent on further pursuing a musical career, he signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2009 and released two additional mixtapes: The Warm Up (2009) and Friday Night Lights (2010) to further critical acclaim as he garnered a wider following.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Termanology</span> American rapper

Daniel Domingo Carrillo, better known by his stage name Termanology, is an American rapper and record producer. He first gained major attention with the 2006 single "Watch How It Go Down". A solo album, Politics as Usual, was released in 2008. He has made a number of collaborative albums, such as 1982 and is known also for his prolific mixtape output. He is of Puerto Rican and French descent.

<i>Something Else</i> (Tech N9ne album) 2013 studio album by Tech N9ne

Something Else is the thirteenth studio album by American rapper Tech N9ne. It was released on July 30, 2013, by Strange Music, RBC Records and INgrooves. The album has broken up into three portions – Earth, Water & Fire. Production on the album was handled during 2012 to 2013, primarily by frequent collaborator Seven, among others such as Young Fyre, Drumma Boy, and Fredwreck. The album features guest appearances from B.o.B, Big K.R.I.T., CeeLo Green, The Doors, The Game, Kendrick Lamar, Serj Tankian, T-Pain, Trae tha Truth, and Wiz Khalifa, among others including several artists from Tech N9ne's Strange Music imprint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chance the Rapper</span> American rapper (born 1993)

Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, known professionally as Chance the Rapper, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He was born and grew up in Chicago. He released his debut mixtape 10 Day in 2012. He gained mainstream recognition in 2013 following the release of his second mixtape, Acid Rap. His third mixtape, Coloring Book (2016), was released to further critical acclaim and commercial success as it peaked at number eight on the Billboard 200. The mixtape earned a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, while a song off the album, "No Problem", won Best Rap Performance; it became the first streaming-only album to win a Grammy Award. Bennett himself was also awarded Best New Artist the same night. His debut studio album, The Big Day, was released in 2019 to continued commercial success and moderate critical reception.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chance the Rapper discography</span>

The discography of American rapper Chance the Rapper consists of one studio album, five mixtapes and 27 singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saba (rapper)</span> American rapper and record producer (born 1994)

Tahj Malik Chandler, better known by his stage name Saba, is an American rapper and record producer. He grew up in the Austin neighborhood of the West Side of Chicago. He is a co-founder of the musical collective Pivot Gang with his brother Jerrel Chandler, their late cousin Walter Long Jr, their high school friend Logan Yutters, Jevunte Wheeler (squeakPivot), and Jimmy. He is also one third of the supergroup Ghetto Sage, with Smino and Noname.

Maradona Yeboah Adjei, also known by his stage names Guru and Gurunkz, is a Ghanaian rapper and fashion designer. Guru NKZ is a hiplife artist in Ghana. He is known for his contemporary hip-hop rap style that combines English and Ghanaian indigenous languages. Guru's breakthrough was in 2011, when his hit song "Lapaz Toyota" appeared on the Ghanaian music charts. Guru is considered a contemporary hip-hop artist, as his songs venture new ground in the Ghanaian music scene, mixing hip-hop, Afrobeats, highlife, and dancehall sounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rich Brian</span> Indonesian rapper and singer (born 1999)

Brian Imanuel Soewarno, known professionally as Rich Brian (formerly Rich Chigga), is an Indonesian rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his viral debut single "Dat $tick", which was first released in March 2016 on SoundCloud. The single was later certified gold by RIAA. His debut studio album, Amen, was released in 2018 and peaked at number 18 on the US Billboard 200, making Brian the second Southeast Asian artist to be on the top 20 Billboard 200 after Filipino singer Jake Zyrus. Brian's second studio album, The Sailor, was released in 2019. He released an EP titled 1999 in 2020. He released another EP titled Brightside in January 2022. Brian has collaborated with many artists from China and South Korea such as Chungha, Keith Ape, Jackson Wang, and Jae Park.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JID</span> American rapper (born 1990)

Destin Choice Route, better known by his stage name JID, is an American rapper and singer. Born and raised in Atlanta, he signed with J. Cole's Dreamville Records, an imprint of Interscope Records in 2017. He formed the musical collective Spillage Village with EarthGang in 2010, and later formed the hip hop group, Zoink Gang with Smino, Buddy, and Guapdad 4000. His fluent rapping style and usage of wordplay has been highly acclaimed by several music critics.

Cameron Osteen, better known by his stage name Cam O'bi, is an American record producer, singer-songwriter and audio engineer. He has produced for Chance the Rapper, Vic Mensa, Mick Jenkins, Noname, J. Cole, Bas, Saba, and Isaiah Rashad. His upcoming debut album is titled Grown Ass Kid.

"Spaceship" is a song by American musician Kanye West, featuring fellow American rappers GLC and Consequence, taken from West's debut studio album The College Dropout (2004). It was scheduled to be released as the album's sixth and final single, but this plan ended up being cancelled. The music video was released in June 2009. "Spaceship II" and "Spaceship III" were released by Alex Wiley in 2013 and Consequence in 2017.

References

  1. "AUTOMATIC". ASCAP. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
  2. "Alex Wiley Bio - Alex Wiley Career". MTV Artists. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  3. "Alex Wiley | Biography & History". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2019-12-21.
  4. "[Interview] The Guru x Alex Wiley - TheHipHopGuru.com". TheHipHopGuru.com. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.