The Streets

Birmingham rascal Mike Skinner first emerged when his debut single "Has It Come To This?" broke the top 20 of the UK singles chart in 2001. "Let's Push Things Forward" was another hit, and the accompanying album Original Pirate Material (2002) was widely acclaimed for it's realistic and witty narrative manner and unique style of UK garage-esque beats. Several British music publications proclaimed it the best album of the year, while European and American critics were also very impressed. Skinner followed it up with A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004), which included the No. 4 hit "Fit But You Know It", and his first No.1 single, "Dry Your Eyes". The album loosely followed a story about the protagonist losing a thousand pounds and his quest to retrieve the lost money. It reached No.1 in the album charts and was again widely praised by critics, with many more listing it as one of the best albums of the year.

His third album, The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, saw a change in direction for Skinner. Whereas he had previously been praised for portraying working-class British life from street-level, his new album dealt with familiar pop-star gripes about the pressures and pitfalls of fame. Although it debuted at No.1 in the UK album chart and was praised by most critics, it was still widely thought to be weaker to his previous two albums.

Mike Skinner released his fourth album, Everything is Borrowed, in 2008.