The Streets is the creation of producer/MC Mike Skinner (b. 27 November 1978, Birmingham, West Midlands, England). Skinner can be credited with producing perhaps the most instantly recognisable UK musical sound of the new millennium. His blend of music and spoken word commentary owes a lot to his upbringing, both in Birmingham and north London. Cutting his first tracks at the age of 15, Skinner took several jobs in fast food restaurants to finance a failed attempt to launch his own record label. After a brief hip-hop project with friends he went backpacking to Australia. He returned with fresh ideas, and conceived the extraordinary sound of his 2000 debut single "Has It Come To This?', where soulful UK garage vocal and beats rubbed shoulders with Skinner's own deadpan chat. Although this unique combination was credited to Skinner, a candid and rather uncomplimentary piece on the Streets" own website by an ex-band mate, the rapper Crispy, attributed the sound to a friend Shaun.
The Streets rose quickly through the ranks after Skinner sent "Has It Come To This?" to Locked On, the company he perceived as the premier UK garage imprint. They were swift in signing and releasing the track, which made a huge impact with the music press and was hailed as the future sound of UK garage. The album, Original Pirate Material, followed in early 2002, and served as a verbal documentary on English street life at the beginning of the century, embracing by turns rave culture, pubs, fights in the local takeaway, money and relationships. Set to subtle string loops and minimal percussion, tracks such as "Turn The Page" and "It's Too Late" employed a rare tenderness, in marked contrast to the riotous "Too Much Brandy". Meanwhile "The Irony Of It All", the ballad of Terry and Tim, concerned two utterly plausible characters cooked up by the author. Further singles from the album included "Let's Push Things Forward", with honeyed vocals by Kevin Mark Trail complementing Skinner's acerbic observations, and "Weak Become Heroes", that featured a fine remix from Ashley Beedle.
Skinner proved in 2002 that he could cut it live with an appearance at the Reading Festival, while Original Pirate Material was nominated for the UK's Mercury Music Prize award. He then spent the next two years deflecting rumours and propagating half-truths about the direction of the Streets' follow-up album. A Grand Don't Come For Free turned out to be one of the year's most uplifting releases, a concept album whose plotline revolves around the missing £1,000 alluded to in the title. The first single from the album, "Fit But You Know It", provided Skinner with his first Top 5 hit. Skinner's second Mercury Music Prize nomination preceded both the single "Dry Your Eyes" and A Grand Don't Come For Free topping the UK charts. Later in the year Skinner launched his own record label, The Beats.
