Same Streets, New World

Mike Skinner is a new hero of mine, not that he's new to my life in any way. With Original Pirate Material, he carved out an unexpected niche in the world of hip-hop/rap with his heavily accented conversational rhymes. Rappers like Dizzee Rascal and eventually current pop-tarts like Lily Allen, Kate Nash, and Adele followed thereafter, soaking up the new interest in the same-ol-genres, now injected with a UK flair. It's now becoming a cliche, as these kinds of things often do, and the thick accent appeal could wane at anytime. That is, except for Mr. Skinner, or the Streets, or whatever name you prefer.

This is because his new album Everything is Borrowed, is a flushed face of positive energy when stood side-by-side with his previous offering The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, the title track of which is essentially about all the ways Mike's life is f*cked up. This title track, however, is immediately soaring, it's chorus repeating "I came to this world with nothing, and I'll leave with nothing but love. Everything else is just borrowed..." It's as if all of life has become new again, the kind of message I could listen to on repeat...and have. The album's head-and-shoulders standout is "On the Edge of A Cliff", a profoundly simple story of your seredipitous existence, is artfully hung over a perfect bed of Rhodes, horns, and a smart beat. It's beautiful enough to bring tears, if you're in the right place, and it might just be enough to save us all.

A bird? A plane? No, it's The Streets.

Listen:
On the Edge of a Cliff
On the Flip of a Coin
[from Everything is Borrowed|buy]