Music
What The Streets taught me: 10 top artists on the artistry of Mike Skinner
We hear from the artists who were inspired by The Streets' vision – and how they took this inspiration into their own work.
In 2011, Mike Skinner announced that The Streets – the group he cooked up in a London bedsit, and of which he was the only core member – was finished. For the last nine years previous, The Streets had played a unique role in British urban culture, Skinner’s distinctive delivery and genre-hopping productions flashing between bar, club and all-night-garage, weaving slice of life narratives and shaggy dog stories that reflected the life of the everyday geezer. But after five albums, Skinner decided the project had run its course, and instead decided to throw his creative energies into other projects.
The decision to revisit The Streets, he said, was inspired by Dizzee Rascal revisiting Boy In Da Corner live in 2016. “There were a few things that Dizzee [Rascal] said when he did the big Red Bull gigs,” Skinner told Mr Porter. “He said at one point, ‘I know this means a lot to you,’ and it felt like it was his way of saying, ‘But I’ve moved on.’ And I totally get that. I’m gonna celebrate the past.”
The Streets taught me that there was adventure and beauty in the everyday
So let’s celebrate. Red Bull UK hit up some of our favourite people to ask them: What did you learn from The Streets?
Toddla T
Toddla T
© James North
My favourite Streets track is Turn The Page. Not only is it the intro to one of the most iconic albums of the past 20 years, it actually opens up an era. The strings are so simple, clever and emotive, the steppy drums make it so individually British and brilliant. I actually played this record on New Years Eve 2010 going into midnight 2011, as I thought it could symbolise the end of the noughties and an era that was so important, and it sounded so epic on the sound system in Fabric Room 2.
Even though people mostly latched onto the vocals, for me The Streets’ production was equally as important. What he did was encompass British rave and soundsystem culture into his music, without it feeling forced. At the time people stuck to certain genres, whereas Mike was drawing from it all… garage, jungle, reggae, hip-hop, dancehall, but his take on the whole thing. And that’s a blueprint for what many people do today, even if they don’t realise it.
Twitter @TODDLAT
Reuben Dangoor, artist
Original Pirate Material and A Grand Don't Come For Free captured the formative teenage years of me, my mates and their older brothers' in a way that I hadn't heard in music before. Every track felt like it referenced the music we were listening to, the clothes we were wearing and the things we'd get up to growing up in London. My favourite track is Blinded By The Lights. It’s just a sick piece of storytelling. You feel under the influence just listening to it. At that point in time it was the most relatable piece of music I'd ever heard. The Streets taught me that there was adventure and beauty in the everyday.
Twitter @Reubendangerman
Shosh, 24 Hour Garage Girls
Shosh, 24hr Garage Girls
© Press
For me, Don’t Mug Yourself is Mike Skinner at his best – flying a flag for lovers, ravers and prangers everywhere! Its may be a song for the lads, but I knew every word growing up, and still do! Songs like this were completely revolutionary at the time because they were so real and honest; just a bunch of boys and girls trying to save face, playing with the salt... It was the sound of the UK underground and is still a huge inspiration for me as a UK garage/bass producer today.
Twitter @24hrGarageGirls
What The Streets did was encompass British rave and soundsystem culture into his music, without it feeling forced
Kamakaze
Kamakaze
© Israel Peters
What I learned from The Streets is that honesty is very important in music. The best lyricism doesn't have to be filled with similes and metaphors. If you can say something meaningful that anyone can understand, that’s a beautiful thing. As for my favourite song, Weak Become Heroes – I think it's mental how someone can write something that captures so many people’s lives in some song.
Twitter @KamakazeLC
Matt "RackNRuin" Robson, Gorgon City
When we were too young to be doing what we were doing, we were listening to Weak Become Heroes and partying in our bedrooms with our mates. And back then you could go raving with a fake ID – I don’t know if you can do that any more. I was definitely going raving when I was listening to [Original Pirate Material] but I was definitely underage. With that tune, I think I remember that was the year I was leaving London and going to uni. And at uni it was still one of the biggest tunes we’d all listen to when we’d come back after a [night out]. It’s the perfect afterparty tune.
Twitter @GorgonCity
Holy Goof
There are so many different Streets tracks that mean different things to me. It really depends on what mood I’m in – Turn The Page definitely gives me a buzz, makes me want to get up and do something great. If I’m going out it will be Don’t Mug Yourself, and if I’m hungover or tired then it’s Weak Become Heroes or Stay Positive. All in, there’s no track I ever would skip on Original Pirate Material – it’s a complete masterpiece.
Twitter @HOLYGOOF_UK
Grace Savage
Grace Savage
© Jade Anouka
When I think of The Streets, I think of 17-year-old me, blasting the album from my first ever car (bright yellow Ford KA), on the mean streets/country roads of Devon, where I grew up. Mike Skinner has one of those rare and perfect combinations as a master of both storytelling and delivery, where you find you have no choice but to listen to the lyrics. With every song, you are immediately transported to a time and place, taken on an epic journey – but at the same time you sort of feel like you are having a chat with your mate. Not many people can achieve that.
Dry Your Eyes gets me every time
Dry Your Eyes gets me every time – there is something so fresh, raw and honest about it. Just as relevant today as it was then, in a world where men are suffering because they grow up in a society where to be vulnerable is to be weak. We need more geezers like Mike Skinner in the music scene!
Twitter @_gracesavage
Will Kennard, Chase & Status
When Has it Come To This came out during the golden days of UK Garage, it was such a breath of fresh air – painting a perfect picture of youth culture at the time that we could all relate to. It still sounds awesome today. But Blinded By The Lights is special to me. Firstly, this genius record captures perfectly the experiences we all had growing up raving. Secondly, it was the record that Nero remixed which led us to signing them and launching our label MTA Records. Nero went onto have a debut number 1 single and album on our label and win a Grammy.
Twitter @chaseandstatus
Conducta
Pranging Out (Remix) was one of my first experiences with Mike Skinner, via a barrage of downloads from Limewire. The track holds good memories of initially discovering the music I was into, and fusing elements of grime with garage. The top line from example showed me that you can fuse male vocals without it being 'sweetboy' on a grime or garage tune – it’s something I’ve tried to emulate as well as The Streets have in this tune.
Twitter @ConductaUK
Mark Fanciulli
I remember the very first time I heard Original Pirate Material in a record store and thinking: “Who is this? This is amazing!” However the track that really stood out for me was Blinded By The Lights, from the follow-up album [2006’s The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living]. What I really like is its raw and stripped-back character – there’s a lot going on but not too many parts, it’s quality over quantity. It’s something I have tried to do with my own productions – for example, 10 Channels Of Bliss. We can sometimes fall into a trap of overproducing but simplicity can be the best way.
Twitter @markfanciulli
Alan Fitzpatrick
I can remember the day like yesterday. Has It Come To This? comes on the radio and I turned to my best mate with a “WTF is this?” look on my face. I was instantly hooked. When Original Pirate Material dropped in 2002, I connected on so many levels – the clipper logo on the artwork, the tower block on the cover, the lyrics… man, the fuckin’ lyrics. It was like someone narrating your own life, which I think a lot of people can relate to – from knocking about in my mate’s Nova, to going to illegal raves, to first experiences in clubs, to splitting up with girls, to fighting with mates. To being young and indestructible, to being vulnerable and shy, to sticking two fingers up to the world. Coincidently this was the same year as my first ever release in 2002 and it really gave me the belief that I could also be creative.
I think the way Mike Skinner can poetically rap about daily life occurrences and circumstances makes it hard not to feel like he’s talking directly to you or about you. I keep that feeling with me today. As Mike says in the title track of that debut album: “Turn the page… be brave.” Big Up Mike, you fucking LAD!
Twitter @AlanFitzpatrick
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