The Streets

Huh? The thing is, the first record, Original Pirate Material, was good: Gah-Rodge beats, Eminem-orchestral strings, and not-so-tough stories about playing some PlayStation or rolling the occasional spliff. Nobody believed that scrawny little MC Mike Skinner could actually hack it in a room full of the sort of characters Guy Ritchie puts in films, but his rhythms always pushed things forward and the music felt inspired.

Related Content

• The 13 Worst Songs to Listen to While High
  January 24, 2012
• Rethinking Tyler, the Creator's Goblin: Why It May Be One of the Year's Best
  June 14, 2011
• Wu-Tang Clan: Show Preview
  January 18, 2012
• Rick James' Estate Suing Universal Music Group for "Cheating Artists" out of Royalties
  April 5, 2011
• Divorces Galore: Eight Musical Couples We Wish Were Still Together
  November 2, 2011

More About

• Mike Skinner
• Eminem
• Guy Ritchie
• Sony PlayStation

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Music Newsletter: Keep your thumb on the local music scene with music features, additional online music listings and show picks. We'll also send special ticket offers and music promotions available only to our Music Newsletter subscribers.

Privacy Policy Cancel Continue

Well, Mr. Skinner, you're right, A Grand Don't Come for Free, and neither does a good sophomore release. While the album scores points for ambition, and you can't argue the fact that the minimal arrangements and lyrical content are unique, it all comes off far too, well, wimpy. The first track, "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy," spends four minutes chronicling our protagonist's mission to withdraw money from an ATM, meet his mum in time for tea, and return a rented DVD on time. The mundane can certainly become a relevant inspiration for pop music with the right sonic spice and verbal witticisms, but neither of these is present. Instead, the record's 11 tracks are consistently unpoetic, their beats hardly dynamic. Songs like "Not Addicted" and "Blinded by the Light" hint at the urgency found on Pirate, with melancholy musical backing that could have been stunning had it been realized a bit more energetically. Even if that had happened, though, Skinner and his cast of backup vocalists would still sound tired. And how can you expect us to be wowed if you don't even pretend to feel it yourself?