Original Pirate Material

by

The Streets

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Was so far under the radar that it's a crime. This record is the best hip-hop record of 2002 you never heard.

Well, calling it a hip-hop record is a little disengenuous. The vocal stylings of this one-man show (UK layabout Mike Skinner) come off like rap, but the vocal rhythm is all over the place and it ends up coming off like spoken word more than rap. Thing is, the second you think he's going in one direction, it flips into others and we're left with a record that almost defies every category but trip-hop comfortably. Even the beats are all over the place in context: dance, hip-hop, drum-n-bass...the kid's got a mad record collection at home.

It's catchy stuff, with sung choruses and VERY funny stories if you can decipher the UK dialect ("roight? Sod off, blud'y bastard!"). He's got smart, great takes on the music industry ("Let's Push Things Forward"), the legalization of weed, youth rebellion and Playstation, especially on a super-witty self-duet entitled "The Irony of it All" about how off it is that alcohol is legal and weed isn't, especially in light of the (here) frequently comicly violent outcome of alcholics when weighed against the puff-puff-live philosophies of your average weedhead. This track is a instant classic.

The beats are almost straight old school, but fresh, bootleg-like takes on the genre. "Sharp Darts" and "Geezers Need Excitement" could just as easily have ended up on a dozen hip-hop records that came out last week. The more dance-oriented fare even manages to keep the attention of the electronic illiterate on tracks like "Has It Come To This?"

One of the most winning tracks on here, one so witty it bears pointing out single-handedly, is the extremly fun "Don't Mug Yourself", which is about a guy getting all bent up over a girl while his boys dog him out for being soft. Hilarious, and real. Oy!

The cool thing about this record is that it isn't about being the best rapper or having the most vast and overwrought production, it's about being oneself...something The Streets does with not only grace, but a sharp eye for what wins hearts.

Is this going to change the world? No. Will this be embraced as the next big thing by the masses? No. Is this a lot of fun? Yes. This is a lot of fun in the same way that MC 900 Foot Jesus was a lot of fun. Interesting musical textures and rants thrown on top. I don't think this is rapping more than it is like little recorded rants but the line I'm drawing is so fine its unnecessary to split hairs like this. I'll do it anyway :). "The Irony of it All" is the highlight here. The two characters portrayed in this track talk back and forth and debate until it gets to its logical conclusion. You must listen to understand what I mean here when I type that. In one year no one will talk of this CD. Who cares... as a society we live in the now anyway.... right?