A Grand Don't Come For Free

Original, fun, quirky, great London beats

okay rap sound.

Alsof je in een auto zit met off-centre wielen; hele andere flow dan ik ooit eerder heb gehoord, cool!

Ik mag dit wel. Gezellig 🙂.

English rap band. Ok if you like rap I thought it was a little bit different.

The homemade sound of this album was both off-putting and its charm. The closest comparison I can think of is the Shaggs. I liked the idea of a rap opera, but I would like to see and hear the movie cast... The story was interesting and fun. I liked listening and hearing it unfold. I just have to ask, do I really want to listen to it again...

This was a quirky album. Definitely a not just a collection of unrelated singles, but a full-out story of this poor dude. The story wasn’t actually all that interesting to me and at times it almost felt like when a kid is making up a song about what they are doing as they are doing it. I didn’t find the beats all that interesting either. I applaud the innovation, but it didn’t really rock my world.

I'm honestly not sure how I feel about this. It was interesting...I think?

Way better than I thought, proof that ‘rap’ doesn’t have to be about shouty aggressive lyrics & it’s piqued my interest in his other work, especially the non-rap stuff.

Good storytelling and funny. Prefer Original Pirate Material.

Not bad

This is so freaking Bri-ish

The Street's lyrics are at their best when they're conversational, vulnerable and a little bit awkward, and Mike Skinner does a fine job and working those into his self-centred storytelling on A Grand Don't Come For Free. Some of the tracks just don't land for me, possibly because they haven't aged super well. Fav Tracks: Could Be Well Now, Dry Your Eyes and It Was Suppose to Be so Easy

Some really cool tunes here. Great storytelling interesting sounds/beats. I enjoyed my listen not sure if I want or need any further listening though. 3 🌟

3.5/5

Disc de hip hop molt musical, conceptual sobre les vivències del protagonista a Londres, i les seves penúries diàries. Recordo quan era la "nina dels ulls" de l'NME, mitjans dels 00s, el van reivindicar massa, jo crec. Però el disc és força bo i molt més digerible que el 80% del hip hop USA

Pretty weird.

British hip-hop. Not in the mood for ATM

An old friend, not as good as I recalled

Second Listen. Starting to really grow on me. I wasn't crazy about it the first time I heard it. 3/5

Cool story, but the beats is mid to me

No british hip hop please…

As the one Brit in the group, faced up with something so aggressively British, I feel I should defend this. It's ambitious - a spoken word concept album, essentially (I would hesitate to call it rap or hip hop) that comes from a very singular perspective. Now, whether you enjoy Skinner's delivery is one thing (I don't), but his use of slang and storytelling, and ability to evoke a mood and atmosphere, are great. This was huge during my first year of university, and probably captured something of the slacker ambience of that time. Speaking of the zeitgeist, however, this album feels dated, a relic before its time - perhaps it was too honed in on the spirit of the age to endure?

Still good, not sure if it's better than Original Pirate Material though

Love the concept album. Drags out too much and he can be a chore to listen to, but you absolutely know what you're getting into. Shoutout the gambling one and the genuinely heartful break-up one Already Saved: Not Addicted; Fit but You Know It Saved After Listening: Blinded by the Lights, Dry Your Eyes*

Recall when a local alternative station put "Fit But You Know It" on heavy rotation. It irritated me at the time, and now listening to the whole album I sincerely don't get the hype. The musical accompaniment is so slight, the delivery of the lyrics so one-note. Bare points for cleverness in the storytelling but really don't feel any need for more of this.

Artist/band and his/their music were heretofore unknown to me, and I'm glad this project introduced me to all this. Some cool stuff in here; a real interesting hodgepodge of styles.

Stereotypically and satisfyingly British: The scenes of nights out, the accent, the talk-rapping, and the musical landscape are all present. There's lots of production variance, mostly to the record's benefit, and a tape rewind at the end (cliché, but not telegraphed).

Boa sequencia para escutar rap

it's alright

Rap opera is not really for me, but I certainly found the concept to be interesting and thought the production was just really well done. In some ways, I was kind of sad that I couldn't really get into it. Some favourites from the album included Not Addicted and Dry Your Eyes.

Rating: 6/10 Best songs: Blinded by the lights, Fit but you know it, What is he thinking

A band I've never hear of. Pretty unique. The lyrics are good, but his cadence gets a bit repetitive. All in all, I'd listen again.

I have general troubles listening to lyrics, so this one was pretty tough. A lot easier to listen to while reading the lyrics, because that's where the album shines. I don't think the music was as good, as I felt it to be quite repetitive. I'll listen to this one again.

A blend of UK garage breaks and brit-pop beats. If Eminem was cockney, British and slightly less angry, then this would be the result.

British Rap is okay. Liked the concept of a rap opera.

Remember being disappointed by this after Original Pirate Material but to be fair it was a brave move to do a concept album (kind of) and it did bring Skinner a mass audience. Hadn’t listened to this in years and it is still just ok. OPM does get the odd run out and will always be a 5 in my book. Blinded By The Lights is a great track though.

I was really disappointed in this album when it came out. After Original Pirate Material this felt like a massive let down. I listed to it a fair but at the time but never loved in the way I loved the debut. Listening today for the first time in many years things did not start well. Everything felt too sparse, the lyrics either too laboured or not laboured enough and the “concept” seemed unnecessary - songs like Not Addicted felt like a chore. Blinded by lights is a fantastic track though and for me was the point where I get sucked into the album and feel part of Mike’s story. About halfway through I was being won over and really enjoying my listen. Fit But You Know It is a banger that you want to hate but just cant and Such a T**t is a great track also. By the time we reach the brilliant album closer Empty Cans I feel completely immersed and I realised that they attempted an adventurous concept album and have pulled it off. It’s not the classic the the debut was, but it’s more bold and adventurous and ultimately a very good “difficult second album”

owned this album when it first came out, loved it. I think it the first concept album i ever listened to, the story is really great. I will never not love fit but you know it, classic.

me gustaron mucho las vibras y es bastante fácil de escuchar

Gefälliger Rap ist eine Beleidigung ich habe es so empfunden

Interesting voice and rap style.

A good album and nostalgic listen!

Not for me

I enjoyed this, probably not as much as I would have done back in the day. ***

Het is niet slecht maar ik vind het niet zo spannend

Aged

Doesn't compare to Original Pirate Material for me

Definitely interesting and one of a kind as a concept album. I enjoy the conversational, Seinfeld-esque "about nothing" style. I appreciate getting into this guy's life. The instrumentals are spare and usually underwhelming. The delivery is kind of awkward. It requires a close listen to appreciate.

super cool album to listen to, you can hear how it influenced other albums.

Ok, accent to heavy and distracting.

like it wasn't bad but it wasn't good either. like British 21 pilots

Always felt like The Street are let down by melodies - like the lyrics got written first and then forced into any old melody. But I like the album and the concept.

3.5 stars

I allllmost want to give this a 4, but maybe that's just the fact that I typically don't enjoy this genre. I think last time I listened to UK rap/garage/grime, I was extremely turned off and only found little value/appeal in it. However, this was slightly melodic and the conversational style of rap-sing actually worked for me.

This album definitely sounds like 2004. I thought the concept was really original and endearing. I liked how he told the story. It's not the best rapping I've ever heard but it was pretty good.

Very very British. Felt like I needed to revolt or something after this. But after I got over the super thick accent and the sing/rap style, it was a decent listen. Probably won't listen again, but it wasn't as bad as my initial impression was going to lead me to believe. 3.5/5.

Production: 3.2 - Mix is balanced, bass, instruments and vocals appear to be on the same level and words are audible - On the first song the vocals do not sit perfectly on top of the mix, it’s actually a mess; beat does not match the rappiung and vocal layering is awful at first BUT it actually does get fixed throughout the album - Uses low qaulity patcvhes and texture which gives the album a quite, “I just started this” feel but manages to make it work - Album is polished and holds up acoustically - A bit of a messy dynamic depth as the build up to the chorus and back to the verse is a bit meh Enjoyability: 1.5 Grabs your attention within 10 seconds, the mix might actually make you want to turn it off but the lyrics and songwriting are well written, deep and personal which I love; Makes the listener reflect - Very little replay value for me - Would not fit into modern playlists or radio unless it’s a local radio - Melody and groove do not get stuck in your head due to the messy mix and production Songwriting: 4 - Uses strong literary devices and clearly tells a personal story - Lyrics match the the song, mood and uses some contour - Belive sections stay at the exact same volume and intensity the whole time but has some form - Lyrics grab you quickly as they are quite descriptive perfectly allowing you to imagine the scenes presented Cohesion: 2.5 - Each songs sticks to a clear emotional story arc from start to finish - Choice of sound and instruments DO NOT belong in the same universe and has too many mismatched insturments and beats which do not support the rapper - Successfully leans into grime / uk rap - Handoffs between sections feel ok, has room for improvement though- it’s kind of like picking up the phone from a friend who’s life just doesn’t seem to have a break Songs liked: 2/11

I can get behind the concept here. Guy loses £1000 and hijinks ensue. Cool. The rapping, though, is pretty bad. I’m admittedly not well versed in UK rap, but the flow is just not what I’m looking for here. It’s less rapping and more close to spoken word. Fit But You Know It was the best of the bunch, but still not my cup of tea. In the end, I think this would function better as a music video film rather than a pure audio format.

Yeah I can't stand this guy talking, beats are boring most of the time too with a couple exceptions

I feel like this was a misfire after the debut. Loads of ideas but no tunes.

It was supposed to be so easy - 2 Could well be in - 3 Not addicted - 2 Blinded by the lights - 1 Wouldn't have it any other way - 2 Get out of my house - 2 Fit but you know it - 3 Such a twat - 2 What is he thinking? - 3 Dry your eyes - 3 Empty cans - 1

I liked this in parts, but when he tried to sing was pretty hilarious. Not great overall.

I have gone back and forth between a 2 and a 4 a couple of times. In the end, love the concept but don't like the music. If I'm not going to listen again, it's a 2. But I really think this album had a place on this list.

Like Ian Dury but without the charm or wit. Couldn't finish it but wouldn't go as far as 1 star.

Oh. No. Well, we can’t win them all. This is the third time through this for me. I am very clear about why I don’t like it. But this time after I heard it, Original Pirate Material came on. THAT album is the reason I was familiar with The Streets before this project. It’s SO much better! Without the burden of the concept of this album. 2 Boolean: true, but it should be that earlier album

A Grand Don't Come For Free is an album that i feel like tries to do something special but it just doesn't feel like it works as an album very well. I only really knew one song before listening to this album in full and that was Fit But You Know It but to my horror, the album is pretty much follows the same formula as that song. This album sounds as if it was originally gonna be a movie but Skinner was told last minute to make it a Hip-hop album and just rushed to make changes but didn't refine them enough. This leads to the vocals and music and the talking to constantly be at odds with each other. I won't be giving it a 1 since the music and vocals are okay when they are there for the most part but I just don't think i can praise this album like a lot of other people do. Best Song: Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way Worst Song: Get Out of My House

3/10 Absolutely pathetic. I mean, it's embarrassing, right? This was pushed down our throats as innovative and the sound of the future, when actually it is really talentless garbage. I really dislike it BUT I've messed up the scoring and it isn't as bad as the hell that resides under 1 star. Needs to count itself very lucky indeed

Three of the songs are truly listenable. I think it’s a 2, maybe because it gets a point because of the accent (and I feel a wee bit homesick just now).

2004 rap opera, more of a short story Blinded by lights Get out of my house Dry your eyes

2/5. I respect the ambition of this album, being a rap-opera about a dude having a bad day, losing the $1000 he had saved up and getting broken up with and trying to get that money and love back before coming to acceptance on “Dry your eyes.” The Achilles heel of the album is that it is really annoying a lot of the time, which feels weird to say because I actually like the Streets debut album “original pirate material” well enough. The conversational speak-rapping really just doesn’t work for me at all, and the production feels noticeably weaker than Original Pirate Material as well. The one exception is the closer “Empty Cans” which I actually quite liked narratively.

So I know that rappers will often play with time to make the song more interesting. But this Streets guy doesn't seem to be behind the beat on purpose; the rhythms he uses are way too simplistic or that. His "flow" is a complete joke, really. Just listen to the hook for the very first song. "It- was- sposed- to- be- so- EEEEZEEE" Good God. And the rest of the album is not much better from here, though the first song might be one of the worst. I don't actually mind the "day in the life" approach here. Maybe I'm a sucker for drama, but even the little situations offered up here drew me in. I wanted to know what happened with the girlfriend! And the money! But here's the thing- between his wayyyy behind-the-beat conversational flow, his lyrics about the most inane and mundane things, and his brain-dead actions in the stories he's narrating - I have come to the conclusion that The Streets is actually mentally disabled, and it feels rude to listen to this album. TWO STARS

The was the first time I had heard of the Streets and I can see why now. The flow of this album is awkward and with very slow delivery on the lyrics. Most songs are just repetitive nonsense of the same statements of sitting on a couch and smoking weed. I mean it is the same theme plenty of rappers and hip-hop artists have made millions from, but they at least make sure it is worth listening to. Whether this album was supposed to be a story or not, it missed the mark terribly. I was being generous giving this album 2 stars.

Having a really hard time rating this one. In some ways, I can see what it was going for, assuming it was supposed to be a slightly comedic take on some mundane British slice-of-life... and I think it does a pretty decent job of that? However: Did I enjoy it from a musical perspective? No. Would I want to listen to it again? No. Did I _need_ to listen to it? No. Going to settle on a 2 because I think the album deserves some recognition for being a unique concept album. It's just that I don't see the point in the concept.

"Fit But You Know It" is one of the few good tracks on this album.

I hate it, but I guess it's pretty unique.

It was fine.

After like the second track I was like "what in the innit spoken word bullshit is this" and was getting really annoyed but I realized this is an album was put together by a bunch of 20-somethings just having fun and figuring out what they were trying to say. So I softened on it a bit. The beats and the bars are elementary but I can respect the approach. Highlight: Fit But You Know It

The 2 singles are nice and the accent is lovely, but it's just not my cup of tea.

Do you ever just feel dumber after listening to something? I did like "Fit but You Know It" however....

This is like British talking wrap rock. I don’t know but it’s not my thing. The song about a girl being fit but she knows it is on here

With this book you’re just gonna get some albums because it was written in 2005 by English people

Aside from a few musical highs, that was a stupid concept for a rap opera. The whole thing wasn't as funny, nor as clever as it thought it was. 1.7/5 -> 2/5

Uh no thanks haha

I am running multiple projects. I have rated this before. And I actually vaguely remember The Streets from prior to this whole 1089 madness. Initially, when I listened to this album for real, for this project, my distain was visceral. People go on and on about the Marshal Mathers LP. I gave that a 4. Eminem has flow, lyrical capability, and an infectious in your face energy. The Marshal Mathers LP is supremely entertaining even if it’s incredibly cringy at every turn. It’s the kind of gross comedy show that keeps me there despite its bad taste and bad takes. This on the other hand has elements of Marshal Mathers without ANY of its energy. It has street characters doing street things, in this case far more PG 13, but I just don’t like them. Don’t hate them. Want to get far, far away from their humdrum humorless existence. I simply don’t care. And the pace is Ho. I. Fy. In. G. Flow? What is that? Stumbling bumbling over my unimportant words? The first time I gave this a 1. Harsh. I mean it HAS a concept. It does. But… aghhhh 2 Boolean: 🤷‍♀️

This was one of the worst things I've ever listened to, and I listen to some pretty objectively bad music. By the end, I started to appreciate the concept and started to "get" it. Personal enjoyment: 2/5 Relevance to this: 5/5

Dificilmente um disco de Rap atrairia minha atenção e este me "pegou" pelo sotaque britânico. Não trás nada de muito interessante, exceto por duas faixas: "Fit But You Know It" e a belíssima "Dry Your Eyes".

Despite the rating, this is actually pretty funny. It's like the rap that the dumb friend of the friend group turns out to be producing in a british sitcom.

3.5/10 - The album artwork reminds me of Nighthawks by Hopper (had to look up the artist) and whether intentional or not, there seems to be some overlap. I really like the concept and story, but his delivery felt really choppy and forced. Beats were also usually not for me. I think Breaks just really isn’t for me.

It’s ok. Not sure it’s a great album though.

The flow and the beats sound forced and strained. The story telling is flat and repetitive. The recording quality spunds like something anyone can do with an old tape machine in their bedroom. I am happy this exists and that there are people out their taking risks. But this sucks .

On one hand its original. On the other, its crap.

Čovjek koji je radio ovaj album je alergičan na muzikalnost, nemam drugo objašnjenje.

I don't know if I can get past this voice and accent.

I don’t buy that Mike Skinner is a genius. A lot of lyrics on here are pure cringe, he just writes about any old shit that is going on. His vocal/rapping (is it rapping? Or just talking) is very basic. I’d score the first album higher as it is different to anything else that had gone before… this is just a poor attempt to recreate that.

Three mega tracks but otherwise poorer than the debut in every regard

not my type 2/5

Aww man, not this. This was all the rage back in aught four. I didn't like it. Too chavy. Too many accents. Too many 'I'm a sad boy from London' vibes. Too much talking. It also annoyed me that the best singer of the new millenium, one Robert Harvey, left The Music and teamed up with Skinner years after I was already a Streets Hater and Music lover. But I struggled through the full thing and the conclusion must only be that there are good words and stories here, but nothing else. It's actively painful to listen to for someone who hates Cockney accents and talky singy. But a star for the words and story.

So this was a weird one. I don’t know how to feel about it tbh. I truly thought a few times throughout that this must’ve been a spoof or comedy album, and honestly? I still am not 100% sure it wasn’t. I gaslit myself into thinking I actually liked the first song, but after listening to it again, I can confirm, I do not. There are things that I do LIKE about it, such as the kind of off beat rapping, and the subject matter, but other than that, na. I will submit, I’m sure this is someone’s jam, just not mine 2/5

What a waste of incredible beats and production. The brits shouldn’t rap (or whatever it was the vocals were supposed to be doing).

The British shouldn’t try to rap. It just doesn’t sound right. The songs have too much repetition. It kinda gets on your nerves. I do like the storyline that’s runs through the whole album though. It also gives you glimpse into English life.

No private session used for Spotify. I have explored the novelty of the English Rapper the Streets before. The music is clanky and just seems off with the beat and not in a 4/5 time way, but more I can't the clap to a waltz.

Very mediocre and British, I can see why it made the list lol

Wow I guess this is how watered down the quality gets when you make a list 1000 long.

Sort of a rhythmic, spoken-word (hard to call it rap) musical about a hard-drinking, self-absorbed young Londoner, Mike, whose poor decisions suggest his frontal lobe hasn't fully formed. It's hard to get into the story at the outset, but once you're in, you've got to stick around to see how it ends. Spoiler: It all starts with his losing an envelope with 100K behind his TV. Interestingly, after he loses his girlfriend to one of his buddies—and the story goes completely off the rails when he assaults the TV repairman—he literally rewinds the tape and goes for an alternate ending. Another buddy works on the TV, finds the money, and everyone lives happily ever after. If he could have rewound the tape to the beginning, he could have saved himself, and us, 50 minutes, but that would have kept poor Simone in a toxic relationship. As the lyrics repeat at the end, "Something that was not meant to be is done, and this is the start of what was." Almost Shakespearian (not).

What a coincidence! I just listened "Original Pirate Material" for the first time a few days ago. It was pretty cheesy but I liked it. I would give it a 3.5/5. Upon generating this album, I was looking forward to hearing more of the same stuff but this is somehow much worse. At best this record is mildly funny and at worst it's super obnoxious. I was so shocked by how much of a drop in quality this is from "OPM" that it made me doubt if that album was really as good as I thought it was. Then the album ended and Spotify played "Turn the Page" which is so much better than anything on this album. In conclusion, "Original Pirate Material" should've been here and I have no idea why we got this instead. Favorite track: Fit but You Know It 2.5/5

Influential and innovative but not for me

Most of the songs sound the same, complete with the same song structure throughout. The story of the Rap Opera is ok, with a copout choose your own ending. Mega Happy Ending!! Fish Gills!! I thought I Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way is an interesting love song. Dry Your Eyes is the break up song. 2.5

The style was kind of interesting but generally not for me. 4/10

Not a fan, doesn't really work for me outside of Blinded By The Lights. I can see the vision but I really don't like a lot of the beats.

Ah tiens, du hip hop merdique !

Let's start with the fact that this album isn't even remotely close to having any good reason for being on this or any other list of top albums. Especially when his album "Original Pirate Material" is the OBVIOUS RIGHT THERE. But, that single "Fit But You Know It" is a good time I guess? I didn't like The Streets. There wasn't much for redeemable qualities when he came out, but he did create a specific British sound that I have since warmed up to in band(s) like Sleaford Mods. But, as decent as the production on this album is, he just makes a mess of it by talking and leaning heavy on the accent/slang to do the work. 2 stars

This all sounds very much like a collection of demos. This is lacking any polish or refinement. Not that everything needs to be polished to the max, but at least SOME more production work and rounds of revision would have been nice. The beats on here have some really cool ideas, I especially like Blinded By The Lights and Fit But You Know It in that aspect that nonetheless are sadly muddied by the general roughness of the album. The rapping is utter rubbish in parts, the singing isn’t much better. It sounds like a first recording of an idea made on a phone. Mike Skinner seems weirdly off-beat almost all the time, the worst offenders are the first two tracks on here. I kinda enjoy the british accent and vocabulary, tho. The parts sung by others are usually quite competent and nice to listen to, thankfully. The lyrics certainly are an interesting exploration of the life of a british bloke in the early 2000s and the headspace Skinner was in. This album is baffling. I genuinely think this could have been great. It got slightly better in the second half, but i have no desire to listen to this ever again. The only exception is Dry Your Eyes, which is a genuinely great song.

ENGLISH.

Was gonna give this a three for originality, but it got old really quick. Very repetitive. Then just annoying. So 2.

I don't like Mike Skinner as a rapper. Between the humdrum flows, weak singing attempts and flat delivery he makes the music tough to listen to. The beats are quite good but that's about it.

UK hip hop ?? De 2002 ? Aïe J’aime bien l’instru de la première mais il rappe mal Peut-être que si le rap américain existait pas j’apprécierais Fit but you know it est effectivement la meilleure, mais elle est bof L’album est assez corny, c’est carrément nul en fait Le chanteur attire quand même la sympathie Get out of my house : beurk 3/10

low to mid tier brit rap trash, 85 percent skips. Not worth a listen except for "fit but know it"

Aged like fine milk. Gets an extra star for Fit But You Know It and Dry Your Eyes

God this was awful

No tiene nada que ver conmigo. Se soporta

5/10

30/05/2026 This album is carried by the one song. Which ironically took me years to even appreciate. This album is piss poor and I could not wait for it to be finished. Spotify listeners: 1.6 million

Not OPM and pretty crap

Blinded by the lights is the only great song here

A rap opera… interesting. It was kind of weird, a lot of British accented rapping but kind of boring.

Jeepers a Brit rapper who’s kinda meh

Not my cuppa

Is there a more mundane concept for a thematic album than "guy too dumb to use banks loses a roll of cash in his TV cabinet"? And his clipped delivery shows why there's never been a superstar white British rapper. At least there's almost no misogynistic slurs or general gross sex raps about women, so you get an extra star for that even though I will never listen to this again.

Do I like it, fuck yes. Do I think it’s essential? Fuck no.

Unlike the first album, on one listen I find very little vibe that really grabs me. Unlike its predecessor, there is also few about music mix, except the Brit pop “Fit but you know it”. Some tracks start well (“what is he thinking”) but are quickly tiring. No time to get pulled into his opera stories about love and stolen money either. I don’t hate it but listening again his first album, I still believe it was shining more.

Det här var inte alls så roligt som jag hoppats på. Nyhetens behag med debuten är helt borta här. Det är egentligen bara den gubbrockiga Fit but you know it som sticker ut.

A few good songs I vibed too but some of it kinda sounded like a parody of itself

I was expecting to enjoy A Grand Don’t Come for Free. But it fell short imo with better rap operas and UK rappers out there.

This was weird

Yenno I respect the fact that this is here. UK rap is such a different bread of rap than what most of us know and love. One, they have the accent... and two they rap overtop of the beat like they don't know its there, well atleast Mike Skinner does on A Grand Don't Come For Free. I'm giving this an extra star for the fact that its a concept album and that he tells a story. But honestly, you're shitting yourself Mike if you think I'm gonna hone in on what you are saying when you sound like a slam poet who continuously scores last place at each and every slam poetry event you attend. Give me the spark notes on this shit and I'd be much better off than listening to him warble on. I was curious to hear some of his other tunes, another reviewer suggested checking out Original Pirate Material, and although it sounded similar, it was loadddssss better than this shit. (still not my cuppa tea ;)). Anyways, love the diversity, love deepening my musical knowledge and depth. But I will not return again to A Grand Don't Come for Free, and I will never find out why there was a grand hidden behind your TV... You're welcome for the 2/5 Mike. 3/10

Who is this even for?

tranquilo

Dashcam music

When the British stole from Black American Blues artists decades ago, it was an honoring of a form of art that was under appreciated by Americans. This seems like it was an attempt to make money after listening to one of two examples of Hip Hop from American culture. This was dull, and has no place on this list.

Volvemos hoy a un género que en un momento del reto apareció mucho y hace mucho no se me sugería. Va bien como música de fondo, con la particularidad de que es un inglés rapeando. Nada más para agregar. Nos vemos el viernes.

What on earth have I just listened to? Everyone knows some wannabe local rapper that sounds exactly like this but you slap a “rap-opera” label on the album and somehow it’s significant? No clue how this makes the list. I’m giving it a two for comedic value.

Album explosé contre un bus. J'ai du mal à savoir si c'est un troll complet ou un projet serieux tellement certains sons sont éclatés. 1er degré certains titres sont signés Legacy Beats ou quoi ? Entre les boucles sonores repetitives, les exactes même sonorités durant tout le projet, et une technique de rap effrayante, l'album est a certains moments vraiment lourds à écouter, avec seulement de très rares morceaux qui marchent à peu près bien comme "Dry your tears". Sinon, l'album n'est qu'une suite de sons qui se ressemblent tous dans leur médiocrité la plus ennuyante.

I disliked The Streets when I first heard them - and time has not been kind to my opinion. I always hated “the hits”, but some of it wasn’t too bad and actually was quite catchy. I’m not sure I’ve ever gelled with Mike Skinner’s lyrics generally though, which is a major problem.

It Was Supposed to Be So Easy 2.8 Could Well Be In 1.6 Not Addicted 1.7 Blinded by the Lights 1.7 Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way 2 Get Out of My House 1.4 Fit but You Know It 2.4 Such a Twat 2 What Is He Thinking 2 Dry Your Eyes 1.7 Empty Cans 2 Score: 1.936363636

Well this is obviously too British. Extremely repetitive and very little substance, but I was intrigued for a half song so it stays out of the basement

When this album started I immediately had a memory spring into my mind from college of this song my roommate and I were *obsessed* with. I hadn't thought about the song in years and it took me a beat to even remember the name. When I finally remembered, I realized it was on this album! "Dry Your Eyes" is a very lovely song with a nice beat and good emotions elicited. For the album as a whole, I enjoyed the lead singer's London rap style (I'm a sucker for a British accent, okay?). The operatic nature of the album telling a story was cringey to me because it was so melodramatic -- boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy fights with girl, boy cheats on girl, girl cheats on boy?!!?!, turns out it was with boys FRIEND?!!?!!!?!, boy and girl break up, boy sees hope. Luckily for us, we got a beautiful breakup song with all the good feels in Dry Your Eyes, but the rest of the songs weren't really for me.

Piti hetken, kun tässä ratsastellaan kolmosen ja kakkosen rajamaastossa. Jossain vaiheessa toi brittiaksentti kuulosti hyvältä, mut lopulta biisien tylsyys vei voiton ja kakkoseen

No ei oikein lähteny. Ehkä vähän väärä paikka oli kuunnella, kun töiden lomassa luukutin niin jäi vähän sanoma puolitiehen. Sinänsä ihan hyvän kuuloista brittiräppiä, mutta olis varmaan vaatinut ihan keskittymistä. Ei kuitenkaan taustamusana innostanut niin paljoa että olisin viitsinyt kuunnella uudestaan rauhassa kotona.

Some of the storytelling was solid, but otherwise this was bad and hard to listen to.

Its taking itself way too seriously, I love the storytelling and versus but the hook on EVERY song is in a fight with everything in the rest of the song. I think its just not my cup of tea although I like rap this didnt sit right for some reason

Listen, if it's on purpose (by all accounts it is), I can kinda understand and respect the effort. Artists are usually odd and unusual, and I really don't mind expressing the storytelling through an unorthodox and purposley "mismatched" musical style. With that said, it just wasn't fun to listen to, to an extreme extent mind you. This would probably do well on YouTube in the early 2010s, especially if clearly communicated in a comedic fashion. I'll say that Fit but You Know It was almost kinda fun, while Dry Your Eyes was coherently composed enough to actually translate the message and emotions of the lyrics correctly. This whole thing is weird, but not in a good way; respect to the artist for trying something liket his, but I simply do not like it, even if the lyricism and storytelling are poignant (in their own down to Earth way). Yet... It's certainly a fascinating, different thing, that provoked genuine discussion and bewilderment.

My original review for this was a long winded review about how trash this album is. I handily gave it a 1/5 at the time of scoring. But the album has persisted in my mind for weeks now. I've become obsessive over it. How does it not work, but work so much? Why is it appealing to me from the depths of the first impression it left upon me? Why am I still talking about it with my group? Is this what art is? I regularly come back to it to cleanse my palate like a bitter drink paired with a rich dinner. After all, you need some bitterness to enjoy the sweet things. It managed to crawl out of the most rotten 1/5 I've given so far to at least this rating, and I can't even promise it won't go up even more. Baby steps I guess. I still feel like the enunciation is forced, the accent doesn't work, the vocals sit on top of the music instead of it all working together, none of which is supposed to happen with hip hop but even with all that i'm still left wondering every time I start this album: Where did he leave his £1000?

Come oooooonnn, man. All the classic hip hop albums, all the legendary artists not represented on this list, and we get this? British rap is already so bad, but WHITE British rap that sounds neutered for radio play? Just shit. Man has negative flow. Every song, the same staccato rhymes. EV. RY. SY. LA. BLE. IS. ONE. BEAT. Exhausting to listen to very quickly. I don’t even hate some of the production, some of the choruses, which he’s pretty much never on, so I lift it above a one star. But it’s close.

Ein guter Song - der Rest war nicht sehr catchy...

Pretty unique as far as Hip-Hop goes. I can't say I liked it very much, though. I did enjoy The Streets' previous album Original Pirate Material much more. Maybe that should have made it in instead. Key tracks: It Was Supposed to Be So Easy Dry Your Eyes

*scratches head* I did not know this album. It has all the edge of a rap album produced, somehow, by a semi-precocious suburban 14-year-old. Nowhere near essential. Nowhere.

I never got the streets

Tedious as hell. Did not enjoy.

Lmao, hilariously awful. What were they thinking?! I obviously have a bias towards UK rap, and I find it hard to tell if it's because I like bri'ish accent, or I like bri'ish accent because I like bri'ish rap, but whatever it is, it's not saving this album Somewhere in the middle of Get Out of My House a twitch stream started playing in my other tab and I genuinely thought it was part of the album. The dude rambling there had the same flow What Is He Thinking? was good

When this was released it was such a disappointment. There are some fun tracks on it, but the album and EPs that went before were so very much better. There used to be attitude and passion and wit, but this album seemed like that had all been watered down and all the good stuff left behind. It was hugely popular though, somewhat adding to the annoyance.

a couple of ok tracks but pretty dire otherwise

Didn't really like this, it's just like slam poetry with background music

I've never been able to get into these narrative concept albums, and this one, with its odd off-meter rapping, was a hard listen.

It should stay in the streets.

Alltså kudos för försöket, men i slutändan var det bara Could Well Be In och framförallt Dry Your Eyes som var bra. Men fler konceptalbum åt folket!

I get what they were going for with this Garage Rap Opera thing, trying to make everyday stuff sound super dramatic, like losing cash or a breakup. But, honestly, it's a mess. Skinner's rapping is all over the place, like he's tripping over his own feet. It's more like someone reading a story than actually rapping. The whole album feels like a bit of a flat. Some people might dig the real feel, but to me, it's just annoying vocals. I can't get past how bad the flow is, no matter how good the story is. It's a piece of history, sure, but as music? Ugh, tough listen.

This is a tough one. I was strangely drawn into the antics of Simone, Dan, Scott and Mike. Is it a testament to the banality of my own life that I find a tale of someone attempting and failing to return a DVD engaging? Maybe I should I be roaching some more spliffs myself? Anyway, this album is awful.

It was interesting but I think this is one of those UK specials where "you had to be there" or something

если бы я записала рэп альбом

This was both boring and unnerving, if that makes any sense. But the record doesn't, either.

I wanted to like it, but I couldn't. It's not quite "Give up the slot" bad, but it's just not compelling or capable of sustaining my interest either — despite my hope that it might.

English Beastie Boys...?

Pretty ridiculous album. Accent and lack of flow ruins it for me. But it was so absurd that I couldn’t help but laugh through it

From the Vault #4 (February 24, 2026) Back once again with the pre-written review. It feels weird opening with this line every other day like there's been some long period of absence between writing these reviews, but it'll all make sense once I begin to roll these albums on the list. I've never heard of this album or artist before. Going off of the cover, it looks like we have yet another White guy hip-hop album on our hands. I do kind of dig this album art. The colours are pretty good - I've always liked the nocturnal colour palette with the blacks and oranges and what have you. For having an artsy album cover, I'm going to refrain from guessing that this album will be a trashy, landfill hip-hop album, though I've no clue what this could otherwise be. Maybe an electronic hip-hop album - something which follows in the steps of trip hop? Oh my fucking God. What the fuck is this? I had hope in you, Mr. Streets. I, thankfully, don't need to write all that much for this section as this album is incredibly minimal. Most of the backing tracks are just one instrument being looped over and over again, and the vocal deliveries are more or less the same across each track. I will say that this album is incredibly effective for what it is despite working with such limitations. I was kind of bored for much of the runtime, but there was never really a period where my attention span fell off a cliff (except, maybe, on that eight-minute closer). I also felt that most of these songs were a minute longer than they needed to be, but I can tolerate idly sitting around for 60 seconds. Overall, a harmless album, but one which doesn't resonate with me all that much. I've heard "Fit but You Know It", funnily enough. My Dad played it in his car for me once and wanted to know my opinion on the lyrics. I thought the song was shit, but I didn't have the heart to tell him, so I said I liked the way the narrative was presented. Between Ian Dury's "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" and now this song, it seems the audience for weird tacky British music is, in fact, my Dad (all of this is in spite of the fact that he's from New Zealand). Anyways, it's one of the better songs of the album. The instrumental is still minimal, though the electric guitar loop gives the song a decent level of energy. It pairs nicely with the punchy, stressed syllables of the song, and the chorus has a good ring to it. The song does kind of drag on for much longer than it needed to, but I appreciate how the instrumentals and verses progressively unfurled as the singer became more wasted. Book time. "Half of hip hop is built on bitching ... But few have ever commiserated as cleverly as Mike Skinner about the common, everyday stuff that really gets you down." His debut album was nominated for a BRIT award and the Mercury Prize. Mike Skinner has a unique persona within hip-hop. Concept album which "...follows a full story arc through minor, yet dramatic, conflicts..." The production is "...sparse and steady". That's one way to describe it. Wikipedia says this album had two very successful singles in the UK and was warmly received by critics. It charted across Europe and the West and was the 13th best-selling album of 2004 in the UK. For a second I thought this would be yet another national act, though in his defence this guy is decently prolific. I suppose I'm favourable to this album, which is probably hypocritical of me given that I snubbed "Boy in Da Corner" by Dizzee Rascal despite being functionally the same release. I think the operatic, narrative-driven nature of this album is kind of cool. It also isn't a fucking hour long, which is venerable as far as these hip-hop albums are concerned. I cosign this inclusion. ================== Ah, A Grand Don't Come For Free. I wrote my review for this album on the same day that I listened to "Casanova" by the Divine Comedy, which I've been listening to quite a bit in the time since then. I made the same point in my review of that album, but I'll make it here, too. It's kind of heartening to find some weird British shit of my own on the same day that I listened to some weird British shit of my father's. It sure is good to reminisce about two weeks ago, but that isn't why I'm here. I remember reading somewhere not long after writing this review that the B-sides from this album are actually integrated into the main narrative, taking place between some of the tracks on here. Apparently this album also has a good and bad ending, though by that point I had more or less checked out of this album. Also interesting. Honestly, I do kind of admire the consistency of this story, even if it is kind of air-headed. There's a meticulousness to this album which resonates with how I approach art and my life. For that reason, I've marked this album down in the back of my mind as one I should revisit, though evidently not within the span of two weeks. I shall return to it, however. Mark my words.

I had this guy's first album as Weak Become Heroes was everywhere when I lived in Brighton for a year, but hadn't heard this one. Some of the tracks are pretty good, and I always appreciate Skinner's unique British approach to rap. He's terrible at choruses though, his effort in several tracks to sing these choruses is painful. The beats are often good though, more often than not. Certain The Streets were a good band at the time, in mid-2000s when most radio rap was pretty trash. But I don't know that it really holds up super well as an album overall, despite the fact that I like concept rap albums like this in general. Tracks like Get Out of My House are just annoying, both in beat and in the flow and chorus. The following track, again with the dumb chorus. Otherwise it has a kind of cool sound to it, and his rapping is usually pretty good. The last track is pretty good, though again the chorus and singing kind of ruins it. I dunno. I get that this might be important for British rap, but at least put Original Pirate Material on instead of this. When I think of all the truly great rap albums not on this list, I get annoyed. Dimery really doesn't understand the genre. 2/5.

I don’t think I’ve ever given a 1 before. But this might earn it. Maybe I need more background but what about this album is so important it made it into this list? I guess it’s a rap opera which is a great concept and I think maybe others have executed this way better? Anyways the flow is just not there. I can’t tell if this is a joke or what. I’m not getting it. Somehow I've heard one of these songs, and maybe this saves the whole album? 'Fit But You Know It' is actually decent as is 'Dry Your Eyes'. This album really might have been saved at the back end, you get rewarded for sticking with it.

GARBAGE

4/10

Min umiddelbare er «kult, skranglete britisk hiphop», men går til å bare være slitsomt. «Fit But You Know It» kunne vært en Gorillaz-demo, og egentlig bærer hele plata preg av at det enda er på demostadiet.

LOL. i'm not sure i've ever listened to something so tuneless, so rhythmless, so utterly grating to listen to. the rap flow is terrible, the vocals are awful, the lyrics are unbelievably annoying - everything about it so completely swagless or ugly that i helplessly laughed through the entire thing. i have no idea why this is on here or who it's for but i'm giving it an extra star just for giving me a chuckle. wow. did you know they just let anyone make music

the usa in 2004 writing a rock opera: don't wanna be an american idiot!! the uk in 2004 writing a rap opera: oi mate, 'old mah bee-ah, yeh? this was... bad. like, embarrassingly bad. i almost feel sorry for the streets having this... thing... immortalized in the 1001 albums list. you couldn't waterboard this album out of me. the album starts off with a little orchestral fanfare, and you're like oh, okay, interesting, this sounds like it might be a big deal. 12 seconds in, the most swagless bloke of all time starts “rapping” (really just speaking off-tempo since he has no flow whatsoever) about returning DVDs. the rest of the album is downhill from there, makes even less sense, and proudly showing off some of the worst rapping, samples, and production i have ever had the misfortune to hear. the most listenable song here, blinded by the lights, sets itself apart by having a female guest vocalist, a less outright annoying sample throughout, and not enough else going on to fuck it up. and then it's right back to samples and melodies that sound like an something an eighth grader starting a band would write before scrapping them for being too childish. incredible stuff. this would be an easy one star but i do kinda feel bad for this guy and it made me laugh a few times because it was so awful. TWO STARS!!

Fit But You Know It was fun, the rest so-so.

I listened to the first Streets album when it came out. Based on that experience, I skipped every subsequent Streets release. That was the correct choice.

I don't think we've had an album yet that has gone as quickly from, "Ok, this might not be bad" to "Alright, fuck this" as quickly as this one did for me.

So. Boring. So much talking in monotone. So much hitting a snare drum button on a Casio. So much me not giving a living shit about whatever is being said. WTF is wrong with the Brits who made this a hit? Why did I listen to this today? So. Boring.

Didn’t get far

2/5 - I would have rated this much differently in 2004, but this hasn't aged well for me at all. I've listened to it plenty in the past, but really couldn't make it through this time. Funny how time changes your perspective on what's worth the bother and the hype. The observational lyrics are still solid, but the total lack of flow on this record just kills me now.

Fun that it's a consistent story across songs, but the songs themselves aren't all that great

I’m not too sure about this. I like the hits, but it’s not really my favourite genre

God awful rapping. Who let the British make Hip-Hop?? They should stop doing that. This was an album where right from the start, with that whiny "It was supposed to be so eeeaaassssyyyyyy" I let out an audible "Oh no" and figured I would be giving this a 1 for the first time in well over 150 albums. I managed to listen to this a few times, and while I still really do want to give it a 1, I was able to get some enjoyment from the story this tells. For being a Rap Opera, it's at least unique enough to warrant having a spot in this book, but man is it not for me. It's basically just about some British blokes terrible day and him trying to find his grand. What makes it interesting is the amount of times he hints at where the money is. Spoiler alert: It was behind his broken TV the entire time, as he'd been complaining about his TV not working for multiple songs. My favorite song here, if you can call it that, was "Not Addicted", simply because I thought the beat was alright. I also kind of liked the back and forth he has with his girl in "Get Out of My House". When this is on in the background, it's not as intrusive as I thought it was the first time I listened through it in shock and terror. I still don't like it, I mean REALLY don't like it, but the 1 star rating is reserved for albums that actively made me miserable, and there's even enough positives to talk about with this one that even though I'm hesitant, I'll give this one a 2.0 on the dot out of 5 and call it a day. I was specifically asking for a more memorable album for better or worse yesterday, so I guess I got what I wanted. This was certainly very memorable, and love it or hate it, I'm going to remember it down the line. So, it's got that going for it. Not in a good way, but it's something going for it at least.

Very British rap music. The album told a story that was sort of entertaining. I’m not a fan of British rap though.

The limey hip hop Jilted John. Fine I guess but nothing even comes close to Baz's Party.

Interesting concept, not an interesting story.

Meh

I was excited to hear this, I tend to enjoy the urban UK scene. This project might be the reason why, demonstrating to British artists that they can be themselves, and that bringing your culture to the front is the point of rapping. This fell short to me for a couple of reasons. The talk-rhyming feels like too many steps backwards, hopping from 2004 to early '80s rap or the '90s poetry scene. Conceptually it's kind of cool, in theory, but then musically it also feels choppy to me. I can see myself potentially enjoying it more if I'd been an adult when it came out, dissecting the art of the release and pairing it with culture and philosophy —at the moment. Before what it inspired got to exist. Today, 2026, I've already enjoyed the sound that comes after this burst of UK rap, I've heard how it's been refined, and that's what I'd rather listen to. I wouldn't recommend this album. 1.8/5

The state of the album must’ve been shit in 2004 pitchfork loved this thing and everybody else praised. How was a return to the concept album my dude lost $1000 in the back of a TV? And then proceeded to be an idiot for a week great album.

4.5/10

Hardly through the first song and ABSOLUTELY hating this. This is proof that people will consume anything no matter how bad it is

This got worse and worse. The only song I enjoyed was fit and you know it

British Eminem?

Not really into the stuttering singspeak rapping but it does have its fanbase. I'll revisit this one in a few weeks. For now: 4/10

A real mix of the sublime and the ridiculous. By which I mean it's almost all dreadful, and yet very occasionally you get smacked by a little line like 'it's hard enough remembering my opinions without remembering the reasons for them'. And you realise this moron is quoting Nietzsche. And then he goes straight into the ultimate anthem of the goon - Fit But You Know It. Confusing stuff. Also, elevated by making me think of that video of then Fulham manager Scott Parker celebrating promotion to the backing of Dry Your Eyes. So in conclusion, this is basically garbage, but it's our garbage.

I couldn't make head or tails of the story, and the flow of the music felt really awkward. I could sort of appreciate some of the rhymes and lyrics, but they never really flowed together to build up to anything I could actually like. Was ultimately pretty lame.

cute

This might be good, but I can't get over him singing everything like a chav. I just can't take it seriously.

I really wish this guy was a better rapper because his voice and rapping are what made this borderline unlistenable. This definitely gets a +1 for the concept, since there are very few rap concept albums, and the tracks “Dry Your Eyes” and “Empty Cans,” which are actually quite good. But overall this is a little too gimmicky for most of the album and a bit too literal. I think I’m so frustrated because in more skilled hands, this album actually could have been good. The two closing tracks, which are standouts, seem to have almost happened by accident. I think if he had leaned more into the singing rap style rather than the talking rap style, this also could have been better. But his flow is pretty atrocious. I almost started to enjoy this at the end, but the last few tracks can’t make up for such a horrendous start.

This is such a goofball of an album. At face value it's really not good. The storytelling is alright but the story itself is so dumb. The singing is very cringy with no pitch or vocal range. The rapping has no rhythm/flow, feels off beat most of the time. All of that negativity being said, this album does have a layer of charm to it. Something about that dry British humor. And I can't even tell if it is meant to be humorous or not. It just is. So for that, it gets one bonus star.

Just couldn't get into this one. The concept of a rap opera sounds interesting, but it just did not deliver.

Sometimes it was entertaining but also I had SUCH a hard time getting through it

Ok 2/5

Spoken word rap album, not really sung. Never heard a "rap opera" before, and don't think I want to hear another. I just don't know what to do with this. Two stars for comedic rhyming and timing. "It Was Supposed To Be So Easy"...I've had that day. Listened before? N Saved tracks? N Favorite tracks? N/A ⭐⭐ Didn't like it. Saved no tracks.

This album is mid, it’s not really the kind of music I usually listen to but there was still a couple songs that I really liked. I think my top three were dry your eyes, wouldn’t have it any other way, and blinded by the lights. The rest of the songs were alright but not great. The album was very wordy and I think that threw me off a couple of songs. The beat on a couple were just strange.

Most of this was mid. A few more of the high energy songs where good. Also he must have just leaned the word "spliff" because he can't stop saying it.

Funny but I don’t think I would listen often

is this a joke?? is it supposed to be some type of "rap opera" parody??? WHY is it on the list??? 1.5 stars. bump to 2 only because it did have some variations in tempo, but this felt incredibly amateur & juvenile

A repetitive poor mess.

Did not enjoy this, at all.

This is... odd. 2/5

he sounds like british blueface, sounds so shit but i cant stop listening

What a punish. The most basic and simple beats with amateur sounding rapping. I was amazed this was on the list, but after getting through the album there was 2 songs that were decent and I didn’t hate. I can see that these style of songs influenced a rapping style and minimalist style of production but it’s not for me.

4/10

Not for my taste. Kinda sounds outdated.

Not great, but could be worse. Very British though.

Notoriously hard to write about bleak and boring without being bleak and boring while writing about it. Likewise, writing about dramatic things doesn't mean the writing will automatically be dramatic. About this effort, I pretty much just don't care that much. Not for me.

Wow. This is three duds in a row for me. I couldn't get past the deliberate non-rhythm of this. His deadpan delivery didn't help. Never got close to flowing with this.

This was not good, like "made in my basement while drunk" bad. But their accents were funny so that's good, I guess. 2/5

I get what they were going for with the vocala, but I just don’t think it worked out

A day in the life of a true Brexit geezer. Least charismatic performance of a somewhat funny story. The flows just aren’t there and the hooks are mostly uninteresting.

Mike Skinner isn’t the strongest rapper among the artists in the 1001 Albums book, and his delivery can feel flat or awkward across a full record. Still, the concept — a loose narrative about the mysterious loss of £1000 and the unraveling of everyday life around it — is clever and gives the album a unique angle. The storytelling stands out more than the actual performances, making the idea more memorable than the execution.

Album 984 of 1089 A Grand Don't Come For Free - The Streets (2004) Rating : 2 / 5 This one falls under British hip hop, and I’ll be honest - it just didn’t do much for me. The whole album plays out like some guy narrating the odd moments of his life in a very plain, very literal way. I can appreciate that it has a certain charm for listeners who like storytelling in this style, but to me it came across as pretty elementary. There’s nothing particularly offensive about it - it’s just not something I connect with. The flow, the delivery, the overall feel of the album all left me thinking, “Well… that was something,” and moving on. Not for me, but I can see how it might hit differently for others.

Из примечательного здесь только британский акцент. Остальное даже хип-хопом назвать нельзя. Такой себе недоЭминем.

Why does this sound like if Eggsy from Kingsman: The Secret Service made an album

Shes looking kind of fit, I feel like a fit, my mate in the back telling me to split. I wasn’t feeling it.

Good idea poorly executed. My first impression was WHAT THE HELL? I really don't have much to say about this. Definitely sounds like it was made in someone's bedroom.

Album #979 British rap so laughably bad it’s good?

Not for me

2.5

Several transitions in the songs were really awkwardly abrupt. Didn't get it.

I really liked the concept but musically it is terrible

The ability for this list to have both some of the greatest hip hop ever created and the worst all at the same time is impressive.It really is a spoken word album not a hip-hop album. I’ll give the album credit through- If you give it a listen the storytelling is well done. That’s the only redemption.

#769. If I learn nothing from this experience, at least I will have learned British rap is quite possibly the stupidest genre of music to ever exist. 2/5: dumb

2.5

empty cans is nice, rest is not really for me

The beats, lyrics, and flow were pretty bad. The concept story throughout the album made it interesting to listen to and saved this from being a 1. 2/5

Hard pass for me. British rap just isn’t my thing, and this guys delivery is especially terrible

I listened to dis album quite confused, thinking na im di bosh man skinner who does west ham and strictly com dancing. No sabi who dis mike fella na, no tok bosh once. I also dont fit and you sabi it. If you go dey for a jog then you go sabi you jog a lot and then you go de very fit. Send accidentally runs a marathon. Maybe dem do. I dont sabi

did you ever think aftershocks would get immortalised in song? storyline for the concept - dogshit rapping - dogshit song about pills - class i hope we get daphne and celestes album next.

Oof. It’s the British Biz Markie of the 00’s. Not good

Interesting concept, strange execution. One good fun song, the rest not my style.

I mean...hmmm the synthesizing was cool at times. Wikipedia says Skinner describes his upbringing as "Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring." I feel like that also describes this album...not poor but not much substance, really boring.

No. If this is what British people sound like when they rap, maybe they should not do that.

Some critics called this guy the British Eminem. Pfffffttttt …

I can see why the first album was so lauded, as Skinner's schtick - at the time - was fairly unique in its simplicity and embracing of a DIY sound. If you ignore Dizzee Rascal, that is. But unlike Dizzee, Mike seems to keep saying the same thing, in the same style. I'm probably too old to relate to the 'flawed-but-alright-really' young geezer that seems to be the main character here, but I did find it a bit wearing after a while. Just not really my thing, I guess. I get it, but I didn't particularly enjoy it.

This was a unique album, not sure of my thoughts. I don’t think I would choose to listen again, but if I heard it again that would be ok

This is kind of interesting but deeply flawed. This is basically a narrative spoken word/UK rap concept album/opera. The plot of A Grand Don't Come For Free is that our hero, Mike has a shitty day, culminating in him losing 1000 British Pounds. And on his quest to get it back, he falls in love, attempts sports betting, falls out of love, gets drunk, falls in love again, and more. The sound of this thing is kind of a mixed bag. First, the beats are generally good, if a little clunky. One of my favorites is the beat on Blinded By The Lights. Now, moving past that, let's discuss the real sticking point for a lot of people, the delivery and lyrics. The Streets' delivery is kind of baffling here. I said this was a rap and spoken word album, but I'd really like to emphasize the spoken word aspect. In fact, it's almost all spoken word. The delivery is low energy and conversational, and the flow is choppy and weird, which comes across as clunky. The lyrics are also weird, instead of more conventional hip hop poetics, the skew here is towards *very* literal storytelling, which again is clunky at times. And, this all compounds with the occasionally clunky beats. The overall project is so clunky, it's almost *blocky*. Like it damn near sounds stylized. And I could imagine this being a draw for *someone* but I'm just usually not into it. Although this has some positives, mostly related to the narrative and storytelling. The "common man's adventure" slant really adds something weirdly relatable. Like there's a mundanity here, but it very much works in favor of the album. And something else interesting about the narrative is how, without thinking, 1000 pounds, doesn't *feel* like that much money. But, really, most people wouldn't bounce back easily if they lost it. Like, I certainly just couldn't shrug off 1000 dollars. And the presentation of this idea almost gets to a kind of class consciousness that was pretty cool. I will also say that I liked the ending. The final song of this album has two endings to the story. First, we are presented with an ending where Mike is overcome with bitterness and gets into a fight with the TV repairman without learning a damn thing. But then we are shown another world in which he makes up with his friends, and they open up the TV themselves, discovering that the 1000 pounds fell into it. It's kind of obvious, but the presentation of it genuinely feels kind of sweet and I had a good emotional payoff even though I didn't love this whole album. Like I said, this is interesting but *deeply* flawed. And while I didn't love it, I am glad I heard it. And I am excited to hear more music by The Streets. I could even see this growing on me a little. But as of now, I just can't see myself giving this any higher than a 2.

Fit but you know it and dry your eyes mate saves it from getting a 1. I wish the rest of the album had more life like these songs.

just not for me at all

Very odd and brash. I liked few but others were hard to find its flow

Brits don't rap right.

Jag gillar inte rap, även om det här inte outhärdligt, dessutom tjusas jag av dialekten.

Dry Your Eyes is a really good song, the rest of the album isn't something I was fond of.

Hip hop as a genre evolved out of desire for an african american sound in urban cities like NYC. Western pop music often passes back and forth across the pond, but it isn't often we see the genre starting here in the states. Hip hop was intended to be by and for working class people. By 2004, rappers were as big as rock stars. For those of you born in the 90s and after, I promise this is a notable thing to say. So suffice to say, hip hop wasn't only being mad by working class americans anymore. Moving onto to this album, the nicest thing I can say about it is that it seems like a genuine application of the genre to tell stories from his perspective, for a specific working class audience in the UK. The music itself is interesting from a cross cultural perspective, but I can't really say I enjoyed this album. It was interesting enough, but it didn't really get any feelings out of me. This album is long and doesn't have a lot going on musically that I enjoy, but I appreciate the rejection of "posh" english.

this is the equivalent of 80's corny rap from the U.S.A. but put to serious beats making for a terrible english breakfast of music.

Naaa bruv this ain’t for me

Not my style a couple songs were okay, but as a whole didn't think it was that interesting

I feel like most people who like this guy like his accent. Anyway, it’s not bad. Just a little monotonous but I dig the concept.

Rap opera. Occasional moments of impressive lyricism and good beats, but otherwise a lot of it felt really forced. Standout is "Fit but You Know It"

1960s jazzy. Medium for my taste. I dont like very much but i dont hate as well.

Extra star for being different, but the flow is bad, the choruses are annoying and the story sucks.

This is really not my groove. No hatred for it and some of it was ok but not my thing.

ruwere hiphop UK NIet heel slecht, niet mijn smaak

Never let white Brits rap again.

Man, I love the concept of this but I despise the execution. The idea - getting into the head of a regular guy who also happens to be a huge piece of shit - as he goes about his day is very interested. I would be willing to forgive the wack-ass flow or lack thereof if they pulled this off. However, I have two major issues with it. My first is that he goes for the easiest, most obvious rhyme every time. You are never wondering what he will say next. You are never surprised by an excellent couplent and you will never find yourself going OH SHIT as he makes words fit together. Instead, you will find yourself slowly applauding when he makes a sentence come out without interruption. This is a big weakness because he is trying to deal with complex emotions using the vocabulary of an eight year old. My second problem is that we are ostensibly listening to someone's interior thoughts, but he spends the majority of the time talking about things that are happening. For example, in Such a Twat he is mainly focused on his actions but not his feelings. Dry Your Tears hints at it a little with the chorus encouraging the protagonist to give up and walk away, but the verses are really preoccupied with telling us where everyone's hand is and where they are facing. Lastly, on Empty Cans, he spends more time telling us there are fifteen screws on the back panel of the TV than letting us now how the money could be back there. A great idea ruined by poor execution and focusing on the wrong stuff.

Not for me. I still listened to the whole album. I can respect the artist, but it was kind of boring to listen to.

Concept rap (more like spoken word) album with a strong English accent. This is pretty goofy sounding but I got more invested the longer I listened. It has an air that someone has enough money independently to hire a producer and create an album. I will admit the idea is good, and the journey was harrowing with a breakup and losing that 1000 quid.

I like a lot of rap artists, I even like a few UK based rap artists, but found Blinded by the Lights to be the first good one on this release, which is four tracks in on the version I listened to. It'll be hard to rate this release above average with that W\L ratio. A couple of good hooks, a couple of good songs. Dry Your Eyes is a nice rap\pop song, it might be the standout song for me. The best thing about this is the continuation of the narrative throughout the songs, so that later songs have more emotional value.

Hated this album until I reached 'dry your tears'. I still am not a fan but i realize it's elevated beyond its contemporaries and should be regarded as highly as it is despite my personal view. The final track elevates it even further and holds a message that should resonate easily with the listener.

Brummie legends did disappoint :(

sorry i know theres classics on here but i did not enjoy it lol

En arbejdeklasse opera som blander UK-garage/2 step, rap og spoken word, grime og brit rap. Det er en lang sammenhængende historie om en normal britisk dude som misser busser og ser tv om aftenen drikker øl og bliver sorget og skal deal med sorg. Vokalerne er nærmest talt (spoken word) det blev lavet i en tid hvor UK garage stadig var ved at finde fæste så jeg formoder det er derfor det er sådan alternativt/eksperimentalt. synes egentlig det er meget sjovt og godt, men det er ikke mig. Jeg ville ikke sidde og lytte meget til det her tror jeg. Så det får en 2'er for opmærksomheden fordi det teknisk set er bedre end en 3'er.

It’s ok

I had this album in my early 20s on CD. I don’t enjoy his flow and most of the sounds just are… noises. Like it’s not pleasant to listen to.

I can’t believe I actually liked this at the time, I’ve not listened in a good 20 years so I guess it was fleeting. It was popular and a bit different at the time, and being a concept album made it stand out a bit more but in listening now, it’s a poorly executed mess of an album where he loses a grand and finds it again whilst in between that, portrays a character that you simply don’t care about. So revisiting this and yep, it’s not for me - I generally hate garage and a lot of the “singing” or “rapping” here as it’s terrible. Blinded By the Lights is just about the only decent track. Overall I’m not sure it has stood the test of time.

Bleh 2/5

bonus star for the laugh

Not my style

Gran forma de contar una historia y dar el mensaje que necesitamos todos: Solo tú estarás para ti, todos tienen sus propios horizontes, pensamientos y problemas, a quién más le debes importar es a ti mismo. Cuídate La producción es buena y experimenta con varios ambientes para darle sentido a la letra y que combine con la música de manera intrigante. La fluidez del artista es muy incómoda, no va tan bien con las pistas, pero siento que es a propósito, es una persona que en la mayoría de la historia está bajo los efectos de bebida o algún tipo de droga, los que suenan más conscientes o "mejor" son las colaboraciones de artistas. En resumen, el proyecto tiene un objetivo, me gustaron 4 de las 11 canciones para escuchar de vez en cuando, no creo que escucharía todo de nuevo, pero no me arrepiento de haber escuchado este tipo de música experimentando con ese tipo de flow algo forzado pero con una idea detrás.

This is not to my taste at all. 2⭐ "A Grand Don't Come For Free" was critically adored upon it's release. Aside from "You're fit and you know it" and "Dry Your Eyes", I didn't understand the fuss then, and I don't understand it now. The remaining tracks just don't match up to those two songs. Perhaps its charms are lost on me? I think it's meant to be understated, with just enough musicality to hold the vocal narrative together. But to me it is just uninspired and repetitive. The biggest issue, for me, are the vocals. They just don't appeal to me. Vocally, it's a guy (Mike Skinner) talking in an accent like mine, and I don't even like my voice when I hear it played back! The lyrics/rhymes are largely hackneyed. Musically, it lacks imagination, is one paced, and dull. There is little melody. Would I buy this album? No. Would I listen to this album again? No. 1 "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy" - 1 2 "Could Well Be In" - 1 3 "Not Addicted" - 1 4 "Blinded by the Lights" - 1 5 "Wouldn't Have It Any Other Way" - 2 6 "Get Out of My House" (featuring MC C-Mone) - I much prefer MC C-Mone. - 2 7 "Fit but You Know It" - The best song so far. Some humour matches his vocal styling much better. This has a whiff of New Wave about it, in the style of Jilted John. - 4 8 "Such a Twat" - 1 9 "What Is He Thinking?" (featuring Wayney G) - 1 10 "Dry Your Eyes" - This was the other hit. There's actually some melody, both vocally and musically. - 3 11 "Empty Cans" - 1 Total - 18 Average - 1.64

I simultaneously dislike and somehow enjoy this album. A very confused 2/5

Pretty fun and some good tracks with a unique sound to them. The rap is too talky for me.

Not my thing, but at least he does all on his own

En gromlåt. Mye surt ellers. Litt slitsomt, artig innimellom. Meh.

There's some good instrumentals here but the monotone, half-spoken, half-rapped vocals are tough to get used to. Blinded by the Light is worth it though, for the stabbing synths and backing female vocal over a broken up drum beat. The other two singles are maybe the best of the rest, especially the emotional Dry Your Eyes. It's not enough to save it. Sorry.

I kind of like the concept: a chapter in the life of some random idiot. The story proves you can't really fix stupid but, money makes everything feel better. The laughable execution borders on entertaining in a juvenile but inoffensively bad way. It's really quite shit. But British rap without a single "bruv" is remarkable in at least that way. All-in-all, it's shit but my god don't you know it.

- boring ... so much better out there from this time period. Why? -

oh woaw, that I was not prepared for. definitely a vibe, but most sounds are almost ear torture. Fit but you know it surprisingly really good, the rest not so much.

Oef, ik kan me heel erg goed voorstellen dat dit een van de laagst gerate albums op deze site is. Mike Skinner heeft een ontzettend... Interessante manier van rappen. Ik ben er zeker ook niet altijd fan van, maar bij nummer als Blinded By The Lights hoor je wat er mee bedoeld word. Namelijk een soort glitchy hiphop rap over een dubby achtige beat. Je moet er van houden, ik doe dat soms. Maar het grootste deel? pfoee, het is lastig hier door heen te komen. Mike zn manier van rappen is gewoon nauwelijks op de beat. Nauwelijks op de maat. Zn raps gaan voornamelijk over een soort ontzettende Engelse loser. Is het een conceptalbum? Is Mike een lul? Ik heb eerlijk waar geen idee... Ok, rond Fit but you know it denk ik het toch zeker te weten: Dit is een soort parodie op een English Lad. En het is misschien iets te goed gelukt. Dit hele album zwalgt in zelfmedelijden, maar dat is meteen ook het concept. Tenminste... Dat hoop ik dan. Sommige beats zijn echt dramatisch. Sommige raps zijn verschrikkelijk, Mike is echt lastig om te tolereren soms... Maar toch, maar toch zijn er een paar highlights, en dan inderdaad vooral de 'hits'. Maar nee, ik durf te zeggen dat ik 100 hiphop albums kan noemen die ik persoonlijk beter vind dan deze. Smaak is persoonlijk, laten we maar zeggen. FAVO: BLinded by the lights, Fit but you know it,

funny

I really wanted to like this so much more than I did. This project is great because it exposes us to so much stuff that is different. And this is definitely different. A British rap outfit doing a concept album about a random dude who gets dumped and is sad about it. You don't get a lot of breakup songs about sad dudes. And the guy is painfully normal. There are like 5 songs where he is upset because his TV is broken. But the vocals are bad. For every one clever rhyme pair, there are about eight that are awful. The staccato delivery ("SHAH...GING") was off-putting. Bad clichés. By the end, I was hoping he would fall in love with the TV guy. How would these songs work in a concert? "This next song is about a character, see, and he's having a whinge about his broken telly. But it all comes together in a song later on that we probably won't play at this concert." Anyway. I was entertained. And even impressed. But not by the music.