Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	61/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Clash	4/10
Drowned in Sound	4/10
The Guardian
Hot Press	3.5/5
musicOMH
NME	5/10
Pitchfork Media	6.2/10
The Skinny
Time Out London

The Ascent is the ninth studio album by English grime artist Wiley. The album was released on 1 April 2013, via Warner Music Group and Boy Better Know, after originally being slated to be released on 4 February and 11 March, respectively.The Ascent succeeds Evolve or Be Extinct which was released in January 2012. The album features a variety of experimental genres, varying from dance pop to grime. The lead single "Heatwave", featuring Ms D, peaking at number 1 on the UK Singles Chart, becoming Wiley's first number 1 as a solo artist. This was followed by "Can You Hear Me? (Ayayaya)" featuring Skepta, JME and Ms D, "Reload" featuring Chip and Ms D, all of which peaked in the top 10.

The album received positive to mixed reviews from music critics, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 26 - becoming his highest-charting solo studio album until Godfather (2017) reached the top 10, yet is his first top 40 album entry. The album has spawned four top ten hits in the UK Singles Chart including the number one single "Heatwave" which also charted in Australia.

The name of the album was first confirmed by Wiley on 27 September 2012, via his official Twitter account. The album's track list was later revealed on 11 October 2012, detailing sixteen tracks - however, in January 2013, the track list was revised. "Walking Through Fire", "Stay Here", "Common Ground" (featuring Ryan Keen), and "Drink My Pain Away" (featuring Stacy Barthe) were removed from the album; while "Ninja" was demoted to the deluxe edition, and "So Alive", "Tomorrow" and "Humble Pie" were added to the standard edition, and "Rubicon" and "Broken Thoughts" were added to the deluxe edition. The album was originally due to be released on 4 February 2013, but was later delayed until 11 March 2013, in order for a third single to be released prior to the album. The album was once again delayed until 1 April 2013, to allow for final edits to be made on the album. "Ninja" was previously released as an official free download. Wiley collaborated with an extensive amount of artists for the album, with featured guest appearances including American hip hop quartet Far East Movement, English rappers Kano, Skepta, JME, Ghetts, Griminal, Manga, Frisco, Big Shizz, Double S, Chip, Wrigz, J2K, Ice Kid and Megaman, and English singers Tulisa, Angel and Scottish R&B singer Emeli Sandé. On 19 March 2013, Wiley leaked the album for free temporarily via Twitter after a dispute with iTunes, but has since removed the link.

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Wikipedia