Boasty

Album: Single release only (2019)
Charted: 11
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Songfacts®:

  • Originally recorded by Wiley with production by Mucky in August 2018, the song was remixed for release by Thomas Mackenzie Bell on January 22, 2019.

    The revamped version of the dancehall-influenced record kicks off with Wiley's chorus before Stefflon Don, Sean Paul and Idris Elba each contribute fresh braggaccio verses.
  • Best known for playing Stringer Bell on The Wire and DCI John Luther on Luther, Idris Elba is also a reputable DJ.

    Man a big DJ, ask Meghan and Harry
    Boast yeah, man a boasty


    Elba references playing at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding reception, earning the bragging rights to call himself a "big DJ."
  • The song was Wiley's first UK Top 20 hit for nearly six years. His previous one, "Lights On," peaked at #9 in 2013.
  • Wiley has a reputation for not turning up to his video shoots so director Henry Scholfield solved the potential problem by casting child-actor Brooklyn Appiah as a young Wiley.

    Shot in London, the visual follows Young Wiley, Stefflon Don and Sean Paul fighting for screen time.
    Idris Elba delivers his verse in a mansion that includes a film set.

    Speaking of the video, Scholfield said he wanted the clip to feel like a competition between the artists "with them crumpling, folding, or stomping on each other to bring us from one to the next." He aimed for a "vibe of bigupmanship and a visual riff on who's the boasty-iest."

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