The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

UK hip-hop? Yeah, it exists. And Mike Skinner does it pretty well here.

This one's a concept album. It's kind of like an everyday life story of your average drug-head. The story is rather practical, and so, you might find it not very interesting at first, but some of the lyrics will make a fun listen.

The album starts off with a sampled horns section, and then Skinner lazily wheezes out "it was supposed to be so eaaassssyyyy". You'll probably laugh if you hear that part, and then you'll laugh even more once he starts "rapping". My first time listening to this album, I thought I wouldn't be expecting much since Skinner has a terrible flow/no flow whatsoever. His flow sounds really careless, almost as if he was narrating his story to somebody, in verse. If you're looking for virtuoso-like MCing, don't listen to this. There's something about that flow though. I don't know how to describe it (lol fail), but it adds a lot to the atmosphere of the album. Like on "Blinded by the Lights", The Streets writes about this drug trip, and as if it was happening at that moment, his flow as he tells the experience makes it sound really real. Also, there's a good amount of humour throughout the CD, and that makes me want to listen to it so much more.

The beats are really simple. Garage(-influenced) kind of stuff, with some piano and guitar samples, as well as synth melodies. Not that this is a bad thing though, since I like these beats. A lot. (I'm a fan of that UK grime/dubstep/garage sound, so that explains it.)


Listen to:
- It Was Supposed to Be So Easy
- Fit But You Know It (this one's hilarious)