If Wiki had to choose between a dinner with Jay-Z or $500,000, he’d probably choose neither. During his first appearance on Hot 97 last week, he ripped a freestyle over the beat for Hov’s “Dead Presidents” and wrapped up his interview by pushing back on the billionaire’s dismissal of graffiti as a core element of hip-hop. On air, Wiki described graffiti—and hip-hop at large—as a movement that prioritizes subculture over traditional fame and commercial success. It was a fitting stance for an MC who has spilled ink across every facet of New York like the city’s most determined tagger. It’s also what makes the output of Upper West Side artists like himself and JA ONE so enthralling, even if it feels like they’re striving to be lionized solely by a local niche for essentially throwing up the same words over and over again.
On Ancient History, Wiki isn’t radically reinventing his rhymes. His verses still land somewhere between moments of deep introspection and hyper-detailed musings about the Big Apple that could fill the New Yorker’s “Talk of the Town” column for a lifetime. But while his recent albums with Tony Seltzer and Subjxct 5 resurfaced some of the dynamism brought by Sporting Life during his younger years as the fire-breathing degenerate who tied Ratking together, that energy takes a backseat here. Instead, Ancient History leans into somber production shaped by longtime collaborations such as Seltzer, a new generation of New York rap he’s embraced such as DJ Blackpower (aka MIKE), and unexpected link-ups with producers like Dominic Maker of Mount Kimbie. Together, they create a canvas that lets Wiki’s words claim space and breathe like a Jenny Holzer “truism” exhibited in Times Square. And Wiki uses that vantage point to rap about aging gracefully in a city that changes far too fast.
Throughout the album, Wiki straddles thriving versus barely surviving adulthood in a New York that always feels ready to chew its best children up and spit them out. On “Bloom,” he soapboxes directly to Mamdanistan alongside Queens-born singer duendita, lamenting gentrification and the housing crisis. As if rapping from a speeding time machine, Wiki flows about yellow taxis turning into Uber Eats over an instrumental that cruises from a soft breakbeat into a total breakdown of glitchy scratches courtesy of Lil Ugly Mane.
The most gripping moments occur when Wiki turns inward. The brooding, Subjxct 5-produced “Bourbon” Wiki confronts alcoholism like an unbeatable disease that torments him like Prodigy’s darkest raps. On the stellar opener “GTFOH,” he questions the legacy of a locally renowned “tragic poet” over a drumless Lord Unknown beat filled with crying scat samples reminiscent of Madlib’s production on MF DOOM’s “One Beer.” “I ain't gonna be as sad this year, I ain't gonna be as mad this year,” Wiki declares at the song's close, before jolting himself awake on “Right Away.” There, he flips the page over a skittering drill slapper by Laron while spewing bars filled with the unbound optimism of a diehard Knicks fan being filmed for a TikTok outside Madison Square Garden.
Ultimately, what makes Ancient History—and Wiki’s broader discography—so captivating is his elite ball knowledge about the nuances of New York. He effortlessly runs through decades of local history like Forrest Gump in a pair of Timbs over Navy Blue’s jazzy pianos on “IHNY.” On “Marm Era,” he pens a visceral tribute to his Upper Manhattan upbringing, weaving in cutty shoutouts to Upper West Side hometown heroes like Bigg Dogg and bloodsoaked memories of Marmot Biggie coats from Paragon Sports. Over a Heatmakerz-inspired beat by Laron, the track feels sentimental but not wistful. “It makes me tremble when I see the face of the youth who I resemble, doing the same things the same way I did, maybe better. It can’t just be coincidental,” Wiki sputters, his voice carrying pride rather than pain.
While it’s never been a question of whether Wiki can consistently snap on the mic like a hot dog fresh off the grill from Gray’s Papaya, Ancient History does occasionally make you wonder if he has an appetite for something different. While the bars on “Park” come off like a worthy redux of Half God’s “Roof,” the Zoomo-produced instrumental feels more ambitious. Backed by soulful guitar samples that elevate the bliss of losing track of time within the sparse greenspaces of the five boroughs. But while it’s refreshing to see Wiki expand his horizons with some of the weirdest instrumentals of his career on “Have Your Fun” and “7 Deadly Sins,” these experiments don’t stray too far from his work with Nah on 2021’s Telephonebooth and never quite break through like his work with Ratking a decade ago. Instead, it feels like he’s trying to rap his hardest over production that’s better suited for James Blake or an artist like Lil Yachty, vying to pivot out of hip-hop.
But what has always made Wiki one of the most influential voices in New York’s underground is his refusal to succumb to pressure. And throughout Ancient History, he eloquently tackles the question of what it means to grow. By the end of the album he still seems unsure of exactly how to navigate adulthood. But over the triumphant violins of the Alchemist on “Ancient History,” he snarls, “You shittin' me or you kiddin' me?,” as he raps about mean-mugging yuppies patronizing bougie cafes while he’s on his way to Dunkin’ Donuts. He sounds like someone who doesn’t give a damn what anyone else thinks, and that is the soul that powers his best moments and defines the spirit of any true New Yorker.
