A glimpse of the 21st century rock'n'roll.

The legacy has been documented.

Grime, Britain's answer to hip-hop, is the most significant homegrown music genre since punk and its founding father is Wiley. Eskiboy charts not just Wiley's story and character but grime's journey from chaotic and frequently violent raves in warehouses to mainstream credibility.

Incredible. A whirlwind chronicle of friendships, family, violence, beefs, parenting, politics, race and a pure, mad passion for music. Eskiboy ensures everyone falls in love with Richard Kylea Cowie, the charmingly fallible lead at the heart not only of this book but the grime scene itself.

Wiley is the pioneering force of grime, the most revolutionary musical movement in Britain since punk. Captivating.

Perhaps the most influential musician working in Britain today.

The greatest UK MC of all time.

Wiley is just as blistering on the page as he is in the studio. Tracing Richard Cowie’s journey from Bow, it expands on his roots and influences while offering unheralded access into the rapper’s life. An essential tome from one of grime’s true pioneers.

This was the year that grime became the most potent form of protest music. Eskiboy, a memoir from 38-year-old Wiley, is a perfect reflection of the genre he invented: sketchy, cocky, erratic and then, suddenly, heart-stoppingly humble.

The grime legend returns, in thrilling fashion, to reclaim the genre he invented.

Eskiboy is at its best when it captures some of the social energy that propelled Wiley, and grime more generally, into the popular consciousness… Wiley’s progress from innovator to godfather could be the best account of the genre’s life to date.

The fact that [this book] exists is pretty incredible.

Everyone should read this – and it arrives right at the moment we need it most – just when the island appears to be turning inwards and moving backwards, this book shows you how to turn your heart outwards and move forwards.

From the mid-90s, Wiley has been instrumental in creating a new sonic aesthetic. In the process he has given black Britain a unique voice, forging a genre that both contains black British musical history, and pushes it forward. It has enabled the success of artists from Dizzee Rascal to Stormzy to Skepta, whose cultural dominance have given shape to the wider identity of twenty-first century British youth culture.

Eskiboy is an insight into one of the most complex characters in Grime.

The pioneer behind the grime sound. Hugely enjoyable.

'Incredible... evocative... concussive, a bit chilling and thoroughly infectious.

A reflective and vulnerable tale of a very raw and traumatic climb … This book reveals nuances absent from his past interviews. In fact, it reveals the kind of insight I seek to extract from every interview I do as Wiley tells his story in full for the first time. Wiley is flawed and refreshingly honest about it; endearingly so and without arrogance.

Utterly brilliant. Charting his rise from harsh beginnings to pirate radio and literally building a genre of music, the book is a vivid and revealing account from the godfather of grime himself. The book is refreshing too, with written cameos from friends and collaborators as well as brutal eloquently written honesty throughout.

An unconventional autobiography written by a committed individualist … He turned 39 this year, but Eskiboy reads like the worldview of a veteran.

Revelatory and surprising – perfect for the Ziggy completist

Beguiling … the fabulosity of Bowie’s life and times lends itself extraordinarily well
to the oral history form

An affectionate, sometimes surprising, always fascinating picture of a Star Man in the real world

Of all the volumes to appear since Bowie’s death last year, this is perhaps the most useful

A treat for enthusiasts […] it bulges with essential and telling Spinal Tappish gossip

An intimate, detailed and gossip-spangled survey of the life of the great enigma

There are sixty-two and a half million books written about David Bowie; this is the one that has been unanimously praised. Indeed, David Bowie: A life might be the only one that you really need.

You can go to any page and read something really interesting. It’s the only book about another artist that I’ve really enjoyed.

A quirky, romantic fairy tale perfect for summer.

My Christmas pick: I love any novel by Rachel Joyce, whose The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was a huge success. Now she has created another Pied Piper of the heart in Frank, the proprietor of The Music Shop...This bewitching love story sings out the unique beauty of every human being, leaving you uplifted.

The Music Shop is a one gulp, super-satisfying read. Love it, love it, love it.

Joyce, a British actress and playwright, whose first novel, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, was longlisted for the Man Booker, continues to enchant and break hearts with her lovable misfits trying to survive in a modern world determined to pass them by. Irresistible.

An unforgettable story of music, loss and hope. Fans of High Fidelity, meet your next quirky love story. Vinyl fans, hold onto your turntables - Joyce's latest is a buoyant homage to the healing power of music well-played.

‘The Music Shop’ is an unabashedly sentimental tribute to the healing power of great songs, and Joyce is hip to greatness in any key…. [The novel] captures the sheer, transformative joy of romance — ‘a ballooning of happiness.’ Joyce’s understated humor…offers something like the pleasure of A.A. Milne for adults. She has a kind of sweetness that’s never saccharine, a kind of simplicity that’s never simplistic…. I wouldn’t change a single note. Rachel Joyce, if music be the food of love, write on!

Rachel Joyce’s charming and deceptively simple fourth novel chronicles an offbeat love story between a mystery woman and an ardent, if lonely, collector and gently explores the power of memory and music and the certainty of change…. love, friendship, and especially the healing powers of music all rise together into a triumphant crescendo…. This lovely novel is as satisfying and enlightening as the music that suffuses its every page.

Magnificent…. Joyce’s novel is intellectually and emotionally satisfying on every possible level. If you love words, if you love music, if you love, this is 2018’s first must-read, and it will be without question one of the year’s best.

Joyce has a knack for quickly sketching characters in a way that makes them stick…. This is a touching, sometimes funny book about surviving change, the power of music and the importance of having a community — wacky or not. As with all of Joyce’s books, it will surprise you.

Joyce…continues to enchant and break hearts with her lovable misfits trying to survive in a modern world determined to pass them by. Irresistible.

Magical…. [Rachel] Joyce has a winner in this deceptively simple love story…. Joyce’s odes to music…and the notion that the perfect song can transform one’s life make this novel a triumph.

Whether on foot, as in her novel The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, or track by track, on this unlikely musical odyssey, Joyce excels in enveloping readers in epic journeys of lost connections and loving reunions.

[Rachel] Joyce sets up a charming cast of characters, and her spirals into the sonic landscapes of brilliant musicians are delightful, casting a vivid backdrop for the quietly desperate romance between Frank and Ilse. From nocturnes to punk, this musical romance is ripe for filming.