The Streets A Grand Don't Come For Free Release Date : May 18, 2004 Label: Vice Rating: Shite Student Fairplay Plussed Boss Mega Guv'nor *It was supposed to be so easy*. I intended to come home from my drive about the city, align the laser and absorb the latest from my dear friend, Mike Skinner, also known as The Streets. Instead, I was greeted with an onslaught of questions from my mother regarding the summer employment job search, the use of her car, the whole bit. Post inquisition, I was able to pinch a bevvie and indulge in A Grand Don't Come For Free. Hopes were high, as The Streets debut, Original Pirate Material Volume 1, was one of the highlights of 2002. Bloody 'ell, this is mega, innit? This *could well be in* the heaviest of heavy rotation on my compact disc music player this upcoming summer, fall and spring. Be not concerned, I am *not addicted* to cockney semantics, nor am I *blinded by the lights* that media hype shines on The Streets. Rather, Skinner's rhymes and beats are simply boss, oi. Perhaps I *wouldn't have it any other way*, but I'll leave it to you to resist smiling or even laughing out loud at the observational yarns that are spun over the eleven mostly excellent songs contained within the sound sheet. Two especially worthwhile and hilarious cuts are *get out of my house* and the outstandingly catchy lead single and very likely the prime composition of summer 2004, *fit but you know it*. A Grand Don't Come For Free delivers through and through, lock stock. I suppose that by this point you will be wondering who exactly The Streets are and why exactly you should care. Well then, Mike Skinner, hails from the United Kingdom and is a garage rapping geezer with off kilter beats who caters to a crowd that is content with a room temperature pint, and, ergo, a fuck off attitude. *Such a twat*. *What is he thinking*? Take a listen and find out. A Grand... is a loose concept album, chronicling an average day in the life of the burgeoning British peasant underclass, i.e. The Streets. It's all there, the ins and outs, the ups and (most common) downs. From the opening track that reminisces on some simple tasks that went horribly awry to the closing number that reflects on the events of the previous ten songs, the loose narrative manages, surprisingly, to benefit the record as a whole. Take note-if the linguistic magic of your average urban British bloke accompanied by skittering claustrophobic beats isn't fairplay in your books, you need not apply for the aural pleasures contained within. That said, the ever so simple driving guitar riff on fit but you know it should be enough to lure anyone onto The Streets. If this sort of thing is not your cup of tea, *dry your eyes*, I am sure you'll find something that will suit your needs. Oh, and also, return your *empty* cans already. Recycling counts. -Kevin Halpin Elsewhere The Streets website Published : June 4, 2004.