The Streets
It was via the stumbling around at this year\'s Reading Festival backstage that we bumped into one Mike Skinner. A man that had just literally come off-stage after performing one of the sets of the weekend under his guise of The Streets, his resulting words with us were just as ludicrously brilliant and hilarious as many of those depicted on his debut-LP, \'Original Pirate Material\'.
And this is the cause of his success: the sincerity, realism and wit with which Skinner depicts his urban tales. Recording the matter by himself on modest recording-equipment and with MC-appearances from fellow friends and local talent, his various spells spent overseas in Australia - working behind bars for a year - and in Birmingham resulted in a wide-eyed and fresh outlook on forging his own genre.
Although commonly (and lazily) dubbed as \'garage\', Skinner is far beyond such a classification. His lyrics of everyday, youthful living in 21st Century Britain, and of computer-games, drinking and drugs - these are just part of the fuller picture; closer examination will unveil his views transcending into politics and the criminal-justice bill. But never does the whole effect seem contrived. And, musically, he sees himself, alongside So Solid Crew and Ms Dynamite, as part of a new surge of UK talent that\'s defining their own form of hip-hop: a pigeon-hole that\'s at least testament to some of the diversity and skill with which their produce is executed.
From his first single-release, \'Has It Come To This?\' - a chart-hit and underground-fave - it was clear that The Streets wasn\'t a one-night stand. Yet, only the following dub-cum-ska of \'Let\'s Push Things Forward\' was able to confirm just how stunning a treat we were all in for, the ensuing unleashing of the album \'OPM\' not only generating raving write-ups, but huge sales, and all (100,000 thus far alone in Britain). Even the establishment bought into it - a Mercury Music Prize nomination scored.
With the dynamic of the recordings spread on to the live-stage at said festivals and overseas, too, it seems that Skinner and co. will be continuing their rise in this crooked planet for a while yet. And, heck, thanks to such a publicly-aired gift already out there on offer, it seems that the future holds similar stealth for Mike. Be glad.
OFFICIAL SITE: The 100% authorised website dedicated to all things Skinner/Streets; check out the message-board, where Mike regularly contributes, amusingly, to the topics discussed.
679 RECORDINGS: The Streets\' record-label; we at rockfeedback reckon that 679, what with its roster also including 2002 hot-shots Ben Kweller and The Polyphonic Spree, is one of the finest record-companies of the year.