Not for the first time, Wiley claimed that 2017's Godfather would be his last album.

After it became his highest-charting album to date, hitting the Top Ten of the U.K.

album survey, and the artist was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire for his services to music, it seemed inevitable that a sequel would follow.

Godfather II was delayed several times (just like its predecessor), and when it did surface, it only contained 12 songs, only a few of which were slated to appear on the 20-track sequence that was originally announced.

The album is front-loaded with its strongest tracks, which are all about Wiley's dominance over the grime scene, and how he's overcome his troubles and stayed motivated to continue working at top strength.

The angular anthem "I Call the Shots" is self-explanatory, and the more sentimental "Remember Me" expresses his desire to have a lasting impact.

In between these is "Bar," which features rapid-fire rhyming over a cool chiptune-meets-dubstep beat.

Pretty soon, however, the album detours into the type of chart-ready pop tunes that were typical of Wiley's major-label efforts, and utterly absent from the more hardcore Godfather.

His sincerity during the romantic, yearning lyrics of songs like "Certified" and "Over the Edge" is undoubtedly genuine, but the mainstream-sounding production and pop choruses dull the impact.

On "Still Standing," he debunks his chart success as fake and claims that he was just "chasing a check" rather than creating meaningful art, but the syrupy smooth production is far more commercial-sounding than his underground work (and at the very least, some of his pop hits were actually fun).

Godfather II isn't bad, but coming after a career highlight, it's quite disappointing.