When Mike Skinner retired The Streets in 2011, he seemingly closed the door on a career as one of the most important and influential voices in British culture.
A Top 20 debut single “Has It Come To This,” led to the landmark “Original Pirate Material”, a rap record with a British accent and with UK-centric subject material, melting influences from hip-hop to garage and house music. Skinner’s project became an academy filling, festival staple live outfit and his 2nd album, A Grand Don’t Come For Free hit Number 1 in the UK Chart as “Dry Your Eyes” became Skinners’ first Number 1 single.
Skinner’s 3rd record, 2006’s The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, uncomfortably skirted the depths of celebrity and fame, spawning hit singles including the classic “Never Went To Church”. “Pranging Out”, which was released as a collaboration with the Libertines’ Pete Doherty, hints at the debauchery and bleakness of that period.
A more reflective collection followed in 2008 with “Everything is Borrowed.” Skinner signed off in 2011 with Computers and Blues, his final studio album with Warner Brothers.
An instagram post in October 2017 sparked a frenzy as Skinner returned with his band for a tour and plans for a film and an album, to be released in 2023. Meanwhile with his first release, the mixtape “No One Is Getting Out Of This Live Alive” , a collection of collaborations with the likes of Tame Impala, Ms Banks, Donae’o and Idles.