Wiley says he and Dizzee Rascal don’t speak because he believes Dizzee blames him for getting stabbing in Ayia Napa.
The two British rappers broke through on the grime scene at the same time in the early 2000s and were pals, but that all changed when the ‘Bonkers’ hitmaker was stabbed six times in August 2003 on the holiday island in Cyprus while he was there performing with Roll Deep Crew.
Wiley, 37, is certain that Dizzee, 31, holds him partly responsible for being hospitalised in the near-fatal attack.
In an interview with Time Out London magazine, Wiley said: "The reason we haven’t spoken for so many years? Basically, me and Dizzee went out one night and there was some fighting with another crew – I won’t say who, but basically everyone knows. Then the next day, I decided to carry it on – I didn’t pull out a knife. I was just fighting … Well, after we started it up again, those guys came looking for us. But the person they found was Dizzee. The thing we done the next morning led them to go looking for us, but see him and stab him.
"Now I’m older, I can see: Dizzee in his head will always be thinking, ‘I know we got into a beef. I know something started. But you lot carried it on the next day. If you had left it I wouldn’t have got stabbed.’ That is the reason me and Dizzee haven’t spoken all these years."
Wiley does accept his behaviour contributed to the incident and he has regret about what happened, however, without the notoriety of that incident he doesn’t think that grime would have gone mainstream in the UK.
The ‘Heatwave’ hitmaker said: "Look, that is the reason me and Dizzee haven’t spoken all these years. If he wants to blame me, if he wants me to take some responsibility for the situation, then I’ll say, ‘Yes.’ But you know what the sad truth of all that business with Dizzee getting stabbed is? I hate saying this, but I always say it, he got stabbed and then bro, the whole of England was talking about it. It took that to get our sound into the nation’s ears. That’s the sad side of things."
Dizzee has now responded to Wiley’s claims on Twitter and insists he doesn’t blame Wiley for him being attacked.
And the rap star admits he is disappointed that Wiley has brought up the incident again while promoting the music festival Culture Clash.
Dizzee tweeted: "I understand people need to create hype for their events but they need to be a bit more careful about what they write.
"I don’t blame Wiley for me being stabbed and this whole thing is to promote Culture Clash and that’s fine good luck … I’m tired of people trying to manipulate the truth. All I know is nobody wants any violence in 2016 so just let me be a "Pop star".
Wiley: Dizzee Rascal blames me for stabbing
