In the world of rap, Mike Skinner (aka The Streets) is the
\nultimate outsider: a Brit living a continent away from the where
\nthe majority of rap is produced, and a songwriter whose characters
\ncan only dream of rolling in a Mercedes Benz — they’re too busy
\ngetting wasted and worrying about paying the rent.<\/p>\n
The mundane is Mike Skinner’s muse in the absolutely
\nmind-blowing
\nA Grand Don’t Come For Free<\/i>. The album is a loosely-threaded
\nconcept album about a paranoid, drug-addled, but somehow loveable
\nbloke who experiences one shit day. He wakes and tries to take back
\na DVD, loses a grand and falls in and out of love\u2026a few
\ntimes. The concept of a grand is a great focal point of Skinner’s
\nvision; in a Method Man album, a grand is chump change — a tip for
\na waiter or a good lap dance. But in Skinner’s world, it seems like
\nit’s the only thing that our anti-hero has going for him.<\/p>\n
Even though the material is hardly enough to populate one song,
\nlet alone a concept album, Mike Skinner gives these moments an epic
\nfeel. Getting stoned and watching the television, betting on
\nfootball, having your television go on the fritz and those f***ing
\ncell phones! — Mike Skinner’s production blows these moments up
\ninto a Dr. Dre-meets-Jerry Bruckheimer extravaganza. Take the song
\n“Wouldn’t have it any other way”; the stoned, agitated main
\ncharacter has an internal argument with himself, getting pissed at
\nhis girlfriend, who wants to do nothing but spend the day with him
\nsmoking a roach on the couch. He’d rather be with his friends,
\nsmoking weed and watching television on their couch. But he quickly
\nresents his friends (who he suspects lifted his grand) and wishes
\nnothing more than to be with his girlfriend, on the couch and, yes,
\ngetting stoned.<\/p>\n
Drugs play a central role in The Streets albums. Skinner daftly
\nshows the paranoia, helplessness and frustrations that seep into
\neach of the characters’ lives. However, he spends equal time
\ndescribing the highs the main character experiences.<\/p>\n
If you are looking for smooth delivery,
\nA Grand Don’t Come For Free<\/i> may not be your cup of tea. The
\nargumentative “Get out of my house” is hard to listen to without
\ncracking a smile with Skinner’s stumbling, tone-deaf delivery.
\nStill, that gives the album a punk-rock edge. And lyrically, no rap
\nalbum this year will likely match the honesty of such lines like:
\n“See, I reckon you are an eight or a nine \/ maybe even a
\n9-and-a-half in four beers time.”<\/p>\n
With all of Skinner’s boasting, he pulls an Axl Rose and gives
\nus a “Sweet Child of Mine” of the post 9\/11 world-type ballad with
\n“Dry Your Eyes.” The song comes toward the end of the album, where
\nthe main character’s relationship is irreparable. Very little is
\nsaid between the characters; Skinner keeps his descriptions honed
\non the non-verbal gestures. It’s risky and Skinner pulls it off
\ntriumphantly.<\/p>\n
\nA Grand Don’t Come For Free<\/i> may not be the best album of the
\nyear — that award could very well come in the form of the reissue
\nof The Clash’s
\nLondon Calling<\/i> near the end of the year. However, the album
\nis a much-needed hypo-injection of originality in the music world.
\nThe closing track “Empty cans” gives the album an almost Hollywood
\nending. And who knows, maybe in a year, fans will be lining up for
\nmidnight showings of a movie based on this album, much like kids
\ndid in the ’80s with
\nThe Wall<\/i>. The scope may be much smaller, but Mike Skinner
\nrevitalizes the concept album as well as rock and rap in 2004.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":26804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7063],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-38078","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-streets","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38078"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}