Wiley (born Richard Kylea Cowie, 19 January, 1979) is a MOBO Award-nominated British rapper and producer of Trinidadian descent from Bow, East London. He has released several albums, both as a solo artist and as part of groups, including Roll Deep and Pay As U Go. Wiley also has two clothing ranges in addition to his music. The performer announced his retirement in 2007 but quickly ended it to continue recording.

Wiley has pioneered the grime genre of hip hop, as both a record producer and rapper, though he calls his music "eskibeat" or "eski", short for Eskimo. Wiley is therefore also known as Eski-boy. He explained his choice of name for his music and the continuing theme in his song and album titles such as Treddin' On Thin Ice, partly because he likes the wintertime, but mainly meaning cold in spirit. Wiley was quoted in conjunction with his "cold" theme: "Sometimes I just feel cold hearted. I felt cold at that time, towards my family, towards everyone. That's why I used those names."

He has mentored, among others, the grime musician Dizzee Rascal. However, Wiley says that he has gained as much from Dizzee as Dizzee has from him, helping Wiley to expand his horizons. Wiley said, "I got energy from him. When he was growing up listening to me it was vice versa." Wiley and Dizzee have collaborated in some of their musical productions as well, including Run the Road, a series of compilations documenting the industry and energy of the grime genre.

Wiley (a.k.a Eskiboy), real name Richard Kylea Cowie (born 19 January 1979) is a British rapper and active producer from Bow, East London. He has made many releases, solo, and as part of groups, sometimes using aliases. Wiley has created his own musical genre, which he calls “Eskibeat”, and which is largely associated with the Grime genre. “Eskimo”, from which the genre takes its name, is probably the best known Eski track. Wiley was also a founding member of the Roll Deep crew. They rel