The genre U.K. garage (rhymes with carriage when using the British pronunciation) came about through the introduction of Chicago house music in London in the early 1990s. Soon it became house’s restless younger cousin, with faster tempos and skipping rhythms. The genre has since been warped and succeeded by offshoots such as Grime, 2-step and dubstep, but in the late ’90s, U.K. garage was a strange mix of commercial relevance and underground presence. Garage duo The Artful Dodger had four top-10 hits in the span of two years but also released several mixtapes around that time. One of the artists featured on those mixtapes was The Streets. The garage and hip-hop project led by Mike Skinner was a little late to the London scene but quickly became its biggest star with his debut album, “Original Pirate Material,” released in the U.K. in March 2002 (the U.S. release wasn’t until that October).
Artists who find that their work is highly anticipated overnight usually do not live up to the hype. After all, one song does not make an artist great. Yet the hits kept coming, as three more singles (“Let’s Push Things Forward,” “Weak Become Heroes” and “Don’t Mug Yourself”) cracked the U.K. top 40. Now, no one could deny that The Streets were much more than a one-hit wonder. The Streets’ recording career would only last 10 years (Skinner officially retired the project last year), but it was immediately clear that he had found something refreshing and original. The first thing you notice about “Pirate Material” is the aforementioned musings and stories about “street” life. Sometimes Skinner is the protagonist or playing a character (Tim in “The Irony of it All”). Other times he is literally the streets, carefully observing and commenting on the crumbling surroundings. No matter the angle Skinner takes, it feels authentic and emotionally resonant. As a result, “Pirate Material” is sad, funny and triumphant all at once, displaying complicated emotions associated with his experiences as an inner-city youth. Of course Skinner parties, smokes weed and plays video games, but the grim reality of the streets always threatens to crush him.
Another factor in the greatness of “Pirate Material” is its stunning ability to incorporate elements of hip-hop into U.K. garage. To call Skinner a rapper is very misleading, especially in the stylized American sense of the word. He is not charismatic or boastful, nor does his phrasing particularly follow his beats. Instead, Skinner takes a conversational tone and runs with it, creating his unique take on rap and beat poetry where every guy is a “geezer” and every girl is a “bird.” Many hip-hop fans are probably scoffing at that idea right now, but his style grows on you. It helps that his down-to-earth lyricism and recognizable sound — in part due to the do-it-yourself nature of “Pirate Material” — give the listener something to latch on to. Finally, the percussive Garage beats and elegant piano lines or string swells (“Weak” and “Turn the Page,” respectively) give Skinner a wonderful foundation that was quite unique for its time. As a whole, the album is electrifying 10 years later and stands as Skinner’s quintessential statement. As “Let’s Push Things Forward” suggests, he was going all out with “Pirate Material,” pushing the boundaries of his genre with great success.