There wasn't anyone like Wiley back in the hardcore days. Things were way too diverse, coming from many different directions. It was literally, Italian house b2b with Renegade Soundwave with Frank de Wulf with 808 State with Quadrophonia. Rave had no central figurehead. And there wasn't any internet, so people didn't pull everything to pieces with the over-analysis like they do now. We survived, and the music thrived and changed, without every nuance being endlessly debated. The facts is this: Prodigy releasing "Charly" kicked the whole thing in the head and ushered in all this cheesy toytown stuff, then it all spilt into a million fragments. But in the early days, there was no don, boss, top boy...it just didn't work like that.
Things changed when jungle came in and people like Goldie started working the media (and using a lot of other producers, let's not forget...Rob Playford to begin with, till they fell out, then masses of people on the second album...TOTALLY unlike Wiley. Plus, very media friendly...again, unlike Wiley). And the aforementioned Prodigy...with their later stuff there was enough visual identity to be sold to rock kids as a Band...a lot more marketable than white label culture.
Really though there's no comparison. Wiley is top boy in grime, which is made almost entirely in London. These cats all know (or know of) each other. Hardcore was a load of different records thrown together, originating from Italy, Belgium, New York, Sheffield, wherever, by people who didn't know each other. Some DJs were powerful - Grooverider's a great example of one who was influential across the board, but then you had someone like Stu Allan who was massive up North but FA down South, or someone like Aubrey who was vice versa.
Like I say, no comparison.
