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The streets, the hardest way to make an easy living (vice)

By BRIAN ORLOFF
Published April 25, 2006

If you dig your rhymes delivered with a fierce Cockney accent, you might already be a fan of the Streets, one of Britain's biggest rap outfits. For the uninitiated, the band is made up of just one fellow, emcee Mike Skinner. He unleashes a fleet of clever, quirky raps in his trademark sing-speak delivery - more like fast talking with a British accent, but, hey, it works for him. The music? That comes from splashy keyboard and synthesized collages of beats.

Though no household name in the States, Skinner is fast becoming one of the United Kingdom's rising stars, and The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living , his third album and out today, is pretty autobiographical. On it he documents his rise to fame, and Skinner loves to emphasize all the glitz and decadence that come with celebrity. His colorful wordplay and buzzy delivery keep things buoyant and listenable, and make them even outright hilarious sometimes.

Musically, Skinner relies more on R&B balladry to set the mood - big, syrupy choruses (crooned by guests, thankfully; though a rowdy rapper, Skinner does lack a gift for melody) - and chiming opener Pranging Out and the gooey ballad about his childhood Never Went to Church are more melodic than anything he's done before.

The most endearing - and the unique - parts come when Skinner gets all wry and confessional. Over a herky-jerky melody, ribald first single When You Wasn't Famous joshes about the perils of fame: Skinner explains that it becomes difficult to score chicks with the paparazzi documenting his every move. (His tongue is planted firmly in his cheek - we hope.) War of the Sexes explores gender and sexual politics - if the discussion occurred drunkenly in a pub at 2 a.m. - over an elastic, spastic melody with some revved-up guitar.

There are misfires, and Skinner can occasionally cross the line. There's something skittish and thrilling about his homemade sound, but his songs soar on the basis of his writing. When his lyrics get sloppy, things get sticky. Consider the plodding Two Nations with its stale melody - it sounds like it could be part of a cheesy Sting song - and Skinner's meek attempt at comparative politics as he recounts cultural differences between the United States and Britain. During one of the worst moments, Skinner offers, "We gave you people like John Lennon/ even though you shot him, as well." It's tacky and not likely to earn him public diplomacy points, and, okay, maybe it's a little funny. It's also an instructive moment, pretty much summing up how Skinner operates.

The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living , has moments of real wit and inspiration, but it also has its share of dull patches. B.

[Last modified April 25, 2006, 01:07:12]