Wiley, U.K.’s ‘Godfather of Grime,’ Charged With Assault and Burglary

Wiley has been charged with assault and burglary after allegedly attacking a man at a London apartment.

The British grime MC (real name Richard Kylea Cowie Jr) will appear next week at Thames Magistrates’ Court, where he will be charged with assault by beating and burglary with intent to cause criminal damage, the BBC reports.

The Metropolitan Police confirmed his arrest and subsequent charges on Monday (Sept. 6).

The 42-year-old rapper is alleged to have broken into the home of his friend, the kickboxer Ali Jacko, on Aug. 28, according to published reports.

Widely recognized as the “Godfather of Grime” and a pioneer of hip-hop in the U.K., the artist was feted with an MBE in the 2018 New Year Honours for services to music. Across his career, he has collected NME Awards, Ivors Awards, seven Top 10 singles and a No. 1 as a feature artist, with 2012’s “Heatwave” featuring MS D.

It’s not the first time Wiley has been in hot water. In 2020, he was reportedly let go by his manager, John Woolf, and distributor ADA, following anti-Semitic posts on his social media accounts. Wiley later apologized for the comments, though it wasn’t enough to overturn Twitter’s decision to permanently suspend his account.