Artist: The Streets
Album: A Grand Don’t Come for Free
Label: Vice/Atlantic
Tracks: 11
Length: 50:41
Review by: Michael “Bolotin” Leech

The rapping is awkward. The beats are lousy. The songs are repetitive.

Bottom line... This music is paper-thin.

So why in the world would a guy like me, after making such harsh and brazen statements as these, go on to give this album a whopping three-and-a-half star rating? To tell you the truth, I’m still not even completely sure why. There’s just something about the Streets’ sophomore release, A Grand Don’t Come for Free (AGDCFF), that really resonates on a personal level. Who would have thought that a sloppy, British hip-hop DJ like Mike Skinner could construct an album so universally affecting?

The first thing you’ll notice about AGDCFF is its uneven, lenient production. It almost sounds like somebody’s asleep at the mixing board at times. Skinner’s rhymes are often left jarringly high in the mix, while much of the music sounds hollow and distant. The next thing you’ll notice about this album (if you’re new to the Streets, that is) is "the accent". Imagine the dude from The Transporter rapping over some mellow Beastie Boys tracks, and you‘ll get the general idea. Skinner’s thick Birmingham, UK dialect will take a little getting used to at first, but you‘ll learn to love it soon enough.

AGDCFF is a concept album of sorts. Each of its eleven tracks combine to form an operatic tale of broken TV’s, “spliff-roaching”, misplaced cash and fractured romance. And it’s in this absorbing storyline that the album really shines. I’m not saying Skinner deserves a Pulitzer or anything. In fact, a good chunk of his lyrics are pretty disjointed and cliche. But they’re delivered with such charm and sincerity that Skinner could probably make a fan out of the most jaded Linguistics major on Earth. When this guy’s mad, we’re mad. When he’s happy, we’re happy. When he’s smoking marijuana on his girlfriend’s couch, we’re... uh... listening to him rap about it.

Skinner has an almost superhuman knack for getting his audience right where he wants them. It would be almost impossible not to like a guy this witty and down-to-earth. Recording a concept album detailing the somewhat unexciting events of an artist’s daily life would ordinarily open the artist up for innumerable accusations of pretentiousness and egotism, but Skinner somehow pulls it all off with ease -- not to mention humility. His heartfelt, transparent delivery is even moving at times. Listen to the downbeat “Dry Your Eyes” and try not to feel a little sad. Then listen to the two-act closer “Empty Cans” and try not to feel a little hopeful. You can’t do it. This guy’s too good.

So the rapping may be awkward, the beats may be lousy and the songs may be repetitive, but on sheer showmanship alone, AGDCFF is destined to be one of the best hip-hop albums of 2004. Mike Skinner is an artist who plays by his own rules, and there are a ton of other rappers out there that could greatly benefit from skimming through his rulebook a couple times.