Album #124: The Streets - A Grand Don't Come For Free

The Streets

 A Grand Don't Come For Free (2004)

There's something about Mike Skinner that makes one want to break out their finest 'geezerspeak' - all that "orright bruv yerright eh sorted for nowt" business. Skinner's relaxed approach to the English language can be explained by the fact that he's from Birmingham, a place long acknowledged as a shithole full of uneducated smelly types (it's like the Collingwood of the Midlands).

Okay, maybe that's just my Coventry bias showing through. The truth is, Skinner (in his guise as The Streets) was responsible for putting out some really different takes on the UK garage and hip hop sound. While Skinner should not be called a pure hip hop MC, he nonetheless achieved success in his home country with his first three album releases, the second of which was the rather progressive A Grand Don't Come For Free.

The Album

Why progressive? Well, because A Grand Don't Come For Free is a hip hopera about a slice of life experienced by the protagonist (played by Skinner himself), framed by the loss of, and subsequent reacquisition of, a thousand pounds (the eponymous 'grand' of the title). What follows is a tale of lust, love, betrayal, drugs, holiday adventures and, ultimately, friendship and reconciliation, all told through the medium of song.

The story itself is rather well formed. Skinner's protagonist (a fictional version of himself) finds one day that a thousand pounds has gone missing, and his TV isn't working. He meets a girl called Simone, a workmate of his friend Dan from JD Sports. Despite a drug-fuelled night at a nightclub where he thinks he sees Dan and Simone snogging, he nonetheless falls in love. After trying to win his money back through football gambling (and narrowly avoiding losing it all), the protagonist moves in with Simone, only to get kicked out for being a lazy, good for nothing drug-addled loser. After trying to pull a bird while on holiday, he realises that he's a twat and tries to get Simone back, only to finally discover that she and Dan are an item. Distraught and fragile, he almost ends up getting into a fight with a TV repairman....only to experience a happy ending, whereby he makes amends with some of his mates and discovers that his TV isn't working because the thousand pounds is stuck down the back of it.

(Phew.)

Musically, there's club-ready beats and heavy bass lines all over the place here. Skinner's unique conversational vocal style (where everything sounds exactly like a recorded conversation and is delivered as such, with no regard to the beats) works rather well, though it's a far cry from the smooth flow of other, better, hip hop vocalists. The album's very English phrases and words are a welcome touch, helping the listener enter the world of the protagonist. 

Fit But You Know It really is the best track here; highly singable, extremely catchy and structured around a simple guitar sample. The hook's not mindblowingly musical, and the warbled vocal is weak, but holy crap what an earworm! Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way does feature a good hook, and it seeks to establish a more chilled out, reggae-inflected vibe. Its heavy bass and basic piano sample still peg it as late-night club fodder. Dry Your Eyes, despite its rather lame hook, manages to be quite an emotionally affecting song. Using a rather beautiful string sample and a plaintive acoustic guitar line, the mood is one of despondency and reflection. What Is He Thinking? is one of the album's standouts, though; being the song where the protagonist discovers Simone and Dan's affair, it's suitably dark, angry and brooding thanks to both Skinner's venom-laced vocal and the string/synth sample.

The Verdict

I was genuinely surprised at how good A Grand Don't Come For Free was. Any shortcomings or bland parts of the music are covered well by the scale of the project and the detail in the story. Make no mistake, it is a story, first and foremost, told very well through the music.

Worth a listen.

My rating: 8.6/10