Brit-hop hits its stride with 'Grand'

To call Mike Skinner (aka the Streets) the British Eminem has become the ultimate cliché. To call him one of the most inventive and talented musical forces working today is a more fitting description. Along with Dizzee Rascal, Skinner is invigorating the London rap scene, and may well be leading a new breed of British Invasion.\nSkinner's sophomore record, A Grand Don't Come for Free, takes it upon itself to better his debut, Original Pirate Material, and succeeds amazingly well. Don't let this scare you off, but Grand takes pride in being a solid concept album. The concept takes shape in the form of a few weeks in the life of a disenchanted Londoner named Mike. What at first seems like a dull series of motions gone through reveals itself as a compelling tale about a missing 1,000 quid and a futile relationship that, at this point in time, only Skinner could tell so well.\nMike's rhyme style is effortlessly unique, resting firmly on his thick British accent and furious wit. No one else could craft verses about spliffing and watching the telly that are as interesting and engaging. The beats, produced entirely by Skinner, are some of the best in recent memory, and prove once again that less flash very often means more in the realm of aesthetic effect.\nThe best tracks on the disc are nothing short of a sampler pack of 2004's best music so far. The somberly beautiful "Dry Your Eyes" and "Could Well Be In," the epic closer "Empty Cans," the edgy "***Not Addicted***" and the jaw-dropping "Blinded by the Lights" are all blueprints for where hip-hop and electronica should be headed, if it has any sense. The album's finest moment comes during "Blinded," when the pills Mike popped finally take effect with a heady electronic buzz that mirrors the drug's own mental alteration.\nGrand's only misstep is the overcharged "Fit But You Know It," which just happens to be the one track Atlantic Records chose to offer up to the fickle public as a single. I have to assume their reasoning was its chugging, punkish guitar riff. The sparse electronic beats that grace the rest of the album may not translate well to radio, but their simplistic defiance in the face of the Clear Channel generation is valiant.\nTo call A Grand Don't Come for Free an excellent record would be to damn it with faint praise. Essential is a better word.