The Streets' Mike Skinner Is Both Honest And Modest

When you hear an album by The Streets, you know you're hearing the unfiltered voice of MC and producer Mike Skinner, an ordinary bloke who makes the lives of ordinary blokes come alive by channeling his own life experience through the microphone.

After listening to his albums — 2002's Original Pirate Material, the 2004 follow-up A Grand Don't Come For Free and this year's release, The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living — fans could be excused for thinking that they actually know the guy.

It's a bold way to do business in hip-hop, where tough trumps tender and emotional openness can result in an artist getting accused of being soft. But Skinner doesn't think courage plays any part in it.

"I don't think it matters, really," he says of the revealing nature of his music. "I don't think I'm really putting myself on the line. It's just being honest."

Besides, with his elevated status among Britain's burgeoning hip-hop elite and a long history of producing tracks for his countrymen, Skinner isn't sweating any potential shit-talk.

"I've worked with most of the artists in Britain and they know who I am, so that's never really been part of our conversations," he says.

What has been discussed among Skinner and his brethren is the notion of collaborating more often on The Streets' records. It's somewhat difficult to imagine other MCs encroaching on his lyrical space, but he says it nearly happened this time around.

"It was just a time thing," Skinner says in explaining why, after giving some thought to bringing in some guests, his is the sole voice on Easy Living. "And also the songs are so personal that it's hard to figure out where they'd fit."

Including other artists in the mix remains a goal of Skinner's because, as he says, it's a way of pushing his own creative impulses.

"It's just like working with news sounds — it keeps things fresh."

With his unique combination of hip-hop, garage and electronica, Skinner has delivered more than his share of fresh produce to the rap game. This makes it surprising that, when asked about his contribution to the genre in the U.K., he answers in commercial terms instead of artistic ones.

"I would say my contribution to hip-hop over here is that I've shown people they can sell records, that it's possible to do that over here," he says.

Skinner is nothing if not overtly modest. Then again, it's that modesty that helped to sell all those records in the first place.