A Grand Don't Come For Free
The Streets

Not sure where I stand with this album. On one hand, I admire the documentary of a certain type of familiar lifestyle. Skinner manages to explore romantically, but critically the position of a man in his 20s, stuck in a teenage drug phase, comfortable in his uselessness, but clearly with an itch to scratch, knowing there is probably more, but not quite getting it. His petty dramas, are never more than that. That all said, at points the album feels badly constructed, both musically and lyrically. While the narrative is always entertaining, he often sounds like he's reading his words over beats that don't quite match.beats that are simple in an obvious way. On occasions this works, the warmth of the story and his delivery keeping us engaged, on others it sounds flat and awkward. I found it frustrating, wanting to like it more than I did. I found myself less critical the further I got, but not sure if that was because the content got better, or because the story had pulled me in.

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