27-544: The Streets is an English musical project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner . The project was founded in the early 90s, while Skinner was still a teenager; however, no music would formally eventuate until the early 2000s. In the initial run of The Streets, the project released five studio albums: Original Pirate Material (2002), A Grand Don't Come for Free (2004), The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living (2006), Everything Is Borrowed (2008) and Computers and Blues (2011). The Streets also released
54-531: A mixtape titled None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive , released 10 July 2020. The track premiered on Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show. In March 2021, following the UK Government's announced COVID-19 restriction easing timetable, The Streets released the single Who's Got the Bag (21st June) . Referencing the earliest possible date when nightclubs could reopen and the names of members of government
81-568: A sound booth in his bedroom, using a cupboard and a mattress. He describes his background as " Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring". At age 19, Skinner moved to Australia with his girlfriend; after the relationship ended Skinner stayed in Australia for a year. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Skinner moved to south London. He sent a demo tape of an early version of what would become
108-475: A cameo role in the fifth series of Doctor Who as a security guard, featuring in the episode " The Time of Angels ". In 2008, Skinner took time off from the Streets to battle symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome and later wrote the song "Trying to Kill M.E." to document his fight against the disorder. In 2010, Skinner married Claire Le Marquand after their daughter Amelia was born in 2009. They also have
135-527: A mixed review, Prefix Magazine said "With about half the tracks on this record falling short, Skinner would seem to be teetering on the edge of irrelevance. But even the failed tracks here sound interesting, and if he's lost his way somewhat thematically, it's all in the name of searching for his new voice." In a much more positive review, The Village Voice Consumer Guide said "His comic timing and mixture of slangs--not to mention his musical conception... are all so much more fully developed that he's actually made
162-410: A posting on his Myspace blog, Skinner noted that the group's upcoming LP would contain "peaceful, positive vibes" in comparison with 2006's "weird guilt-ridden indulgence" that was The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living. In a blurb about the album on Skinner's Myspace, he says, "This album started off life as parables but then I realised that it might get a bit cheesy so I got rid of the alien song and
189-568: A son, George, Born in 2011. The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living is the third studio album by Mike Skinner , under the music project The Streets . It was released on 10 April 2006 in the United Kingdom and 25 April 2006 in North America. It is also the shortest The Streets album released so far, with a running time of just 37 minutes and 12 seconds. The Mitchell Brothers and Ted Mayhem , two of Skinner's protégés, make guest appearances on
216-573: A string of successful singles during this time, which reached the Top 40 on the UK Singles chart – including " Has It Come to This? ", " Fit but You Know It ", " Dry Your Eyes " (the project's only number-one single ), " When You Wasn't Famous " and " Prangin' Out ". After disbanding The Streets in 2011, Skinner pursued several other musical projects before ultimately reviving the moniker in 2017. A mixtape, None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive ,
243-473: The 2003 BRIT Awards . NME named Original Pirate Material as the third best album of 2002. Subsequent singles from Original Pirate Material include " Don't Mug Yourself ", " Weak Become Heroes " and "Let's Push Things Forward". In May 2004, Skinner released the single " Fit but You Know It ", which peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. The single was later used by EA Sports as part of
270-776: The UK Singles Chart in October 2001. The Streets' debut album, Original Pirate Material , was released in March 2002. The album was successful both with critics and the general public. In the UK, the album was nominated for the Mercury Prize . Original Pirate Material was nominated for British Album of the Year , and The Streets was nominated for British Urban Act , British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist at
297-410: The UK Singles Chart in 2004. The Streets' third studio album, The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living , was released on 10 April 2006. In the UK it debuted the album chart at number one. In September 2008, The Streets released their fourth studio album, Everything Is Borrowed . One song from the album was on Skinner's Myspace page for a while before being replaced by a cover of " Your Song ". In
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#1732779515020324-462: The album "soundtracked the beginning of a decade – recovering from the Britpop hangover and comedown from New Labour euphoria – but also defined it." Mike Skinner sent a demo tape to a record shop in north London, run by A&R Nick Worthington. The song developed into Skinner's first single, " Has It Come to This? ", and was released under the name The Streets. The song peaked at number 18 on
351-476: The album. The album deals with the ideas of celebrity and success, partly in relation to Skinner's greater fame after the success of the first two The Streets albums. There are several references to recreational drug use. The final track, "Fake Streets Hats", is about an incident that happened during the 2004 edition of the Dutch Lowlands festival , where a drunk Mike Skinner openly protested against
378-472: The devil song replaced them with more straight up songs. I've pretty much kept my promise that I made to myself not to reference modern life on any of them though which is hard to do and keep things personal at the same time." In November 2010, Skinner announced on the official The Streets website, that he would release what he referred to as a mixtape album called Cyberspace and Reds , consisting of various recordings he had made since he had finished work on
405-573: The final Streets album, Computers and Blues . Cyberspace and Reds was released in January 2011, initially only for download via the Streets iPhone app . A so-called "deluxe" edition was later made available for general download through the Streets website. The fifth album Computers and Blues was released on 7 February 2011, the first single being "Going Through Hell". On 22 December 2017, The Streets released two new tracks: "Burn Bridges" and "Sometimes I Hate My Friends More Than My Enemies". It
432-638: The group's debut album Are You Satisfied? . Skinner teamed up with UK rap group Murkage to form a supergroup named Tonga Balloon Gang, and they released an eponymous three-track EP on 14 November 2015. The release features additional vocals from Jammer and Big Narstie . In 2016, Skinner released several tracks on SoundCloud under the name the Darker the Shadow, the Brighter the Light. In April 2017, he released
459-474: The handing out of white hats with "The Streets" written on them, because he thought they were fake, and thus illegal merchandise. The hats actually were promotional material from his label, Warner. Mike Skinner also sees the song as a personal reflection on plagiarism in general. Critical response for the album was generally positive, scoring 72/100 on Metacritic . However, this score is lower than his previous two albums, scoring 90/100 and 91/100 respectively. In
486-413: The many hip hop artists that influenced him in the making of some of the Streets' albums are Wu-Tang Clan , DJ Premier , and Erick Sermon . The soundtrack album for the film The Inbetweeners Movie was released in 2011, featuring ten new compositions by Skinner. On 19 October 2007, the first episode of Skinner's late-night television programme, Beat Stevie , aired on Channel 4 . Skinner had
513-641: The music project the Streets , Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of the D.O.T. with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey , and under the pseudonym The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light. Skinner grew up in West Heath , Birmingham . He started playing with keyboards at the age of five. When he was seven years old he began experiencing symptoms of epilepsy , which worsened in his early teens. He began writing hip hop and garage music in his home in West Heath and later built
540-482: The single was described by Skinner as a "end of lockdown celebratory track". In October 2023, the first studio album in twelve years, The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light , was released. Current members Current contributors and live musicians Former contributors and live musicians Mike Skinner (musician) Michael Geoffrey Skinner (born 27 November 1978) is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Best known for
567-435: The song " Has It Come to This? " to a record shop run by A&R Nick Worthington. The song was released as a single in 2001, through Locked On Records . In the albums Skinner made under the name the Streets, he focused on vocals, arranging, composing, mixing, keyboards, and synthesizers. In 2005, Skinner and Ted Mayhem launched the independent record label The Beats Recordings. A subsidiary of 679 Recordings , The Beats
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#1732779515020594-479: The song "Bad Decisions in the Night" on digital platforms. Skinner is best known for his lyricism matched with his blurring of musical styles of UK garage , hip hop , indie rock , reggae , and ska . The Guardian reviewer Dave Simpson particularly praised Skinner's "dazzling wordplay". Skinner is influenced by musical genres including hip hop , UK garage , reggae , and country and western music . Some of
621-495: The soundtrack for its video game FIFA Football 2005 . "Fit But You Know It" appeared on The Streets' second album, A Grand Don't Come for Free . The album entered the UK album charts at number two, but later reached number one after six weeks. The album's second single, " Dry Your Eyes ", debuted at the top of the chart in the UK. " Blinded by the Lights ", the third single from A Grand Don't Come for Free , peaked at number 10 on
648-570: Was The Streets' first new music released in six years. In 2018, The Streets released three singles: "If You Ever Need to Talk I'm not Here" was released on 31 January, "You Are Not the Voice in Your Head..." was released on 30 March, and "Call Me in the Morning" was released on 22 November. On 1 April 2020, Skinner announced a new single featuring Australian music project Tame Impala , included on
675-645: Was home to British hip hop acts such as the Mitchell Brothers , Example , and Professor Green . In a 2008 interview with NME , Skinner announced that the label had shut down. In 2012, Skinner stated in an interview that the label was starting up again. After shelving the Streets, Skinner launched a new project, called the D.O.T, along with Rob Harvey of alternative rock band the Music . Harvey performs on vocals, allowing Skinner to "further develop his production approach". Their first album, And That ,
702-467: Was released in 2020. The Streets' sixth studio album, The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light , was released in September 2023. The Streets is considered one of the most important and influential acts within the trajectory of hip-hop, garage and grime music within the UK. In 2020, Pitchfork described Original Pirate Material as "a landmark for UK rap ", while Dazed wrote in 2018 that
729-505: Was released on 22 October 2012. Their second album titled Diary was released on 5 May 2013. In 2013, Skinner remixed Norwich rapper Context 's song "Small Town Lad Sentiments". The remix features on Context's second EP, Hindsight is the Purest Form of Romance (2014). In 2015, he remixed Slaves ' breakthrough single "Cheer Up London" alongside Jammer . The remix featured on an extended play exclusive to HMV , released alongside
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