Original Pirate Material by The Streets: Recorded in a Bedroom, Changed a Culture

This week, we hit the turn of the millennium with Original Pirate Material, the groundbreaking 2002 debut from Mike Skinner's project, The Streets. Recorded largely at home in a Brixton room, it fuses elements of UK garage, electronic beats, and hip-hop rhythms into a style that wasn’t quite like anything else at the time.

Inside This Episode:

• First Half Reaction: We pause at the midway point to discuss Mike Skinner’s conversational, candid vocal delivery and his incredibly vivid vignettes of UK working-class youth, club culture, and relationships.
• 5 Fast Facts: We dive into the DIY production history and pull five interesting facts about how this bedroom project became a critical darling.
• Second Half & Final Thoughts: After finishing the album, Jeremy and Jon discuss how the back half cements the record's legacy and whether it still holds the same raw power today.
• The Verdict & Standout Tracks: We share our top 3 standout tracks and answer the ultimate question: Will we be pressing play on this album again?

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:03

This is Polyphonic Press. The podcast where two music fans pick a classic album completely at random.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Alright, hey, welcome to Polyphonic Press. I'm Jeremy Boyd.

SPEAKER_01 0:23

And I'm John Van Dyke.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

And uh let's not waste any time. We've got the patented random album generator right in front of us here. Uh so let's hit the button and see what album we're gonna be listening to this week. And the album we're gonna be listening to is The Streets. Original Pirate Material. Okay. Vaguely aware of the band name, I think. Yeah, maybe. But uh anyway, here is a uh description of the album. It says Originate Pirate Material is the groundbreaking tw 2002 debut album from British music project The Streets, a brainchild of singer-producer Mike Skinner. Uh, recorded largely at home in a Brixton room, it fuses elements of UK garage, electronic beats, and hip-hop rhythms into a style that wasn't quite like anything else at the time. What really sets the album apart is Skinner's voice, can conversational, candid, and distinctly British. He delivers vivid, witty vivid, witty, and deeply human vignettes about everyday life, nights out, being skint, relationships, drinking, club cultures, club culture, and the ups and downs uh uh of youth with sharp humor and emotional intent mo emotional honesty. Critically acclaimed on release and now uh seen as a defining record of its era, original pirate material helped bring UK garage and local storytelling into the mainstream, winning plaudits for its originality, charm, and raw portrayal of working-class UK life.

SPEAKER_01 2:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 2:02

Okay, so this album was released on March 25th, 2002, and uh the genres are UK Garage, Grime Music, Electronic Dance Music, Alternative Hip Hop, Electronica Hip Hop, and Pop. And uh was produced by Mike Skinner and released on Locked On Records N679. And uh there are 14 tracks on the album, and I was mostly primarily released on CD. Uh, so I guess we'll listen to the first seven and then listen to the next seven. So if you're listening along, which we do encourage you to do, if uh if you the album starts with the song Turn the Page, and uh if you will listen until the song It's too late. So if you want to listen to uh to that uh point, we'll uh pause halfway through and have a discussion at the halfway point. Okay, here we go. Here's the first song on the album, uh Turn the Page. So here we know That's it.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

Turn the page on the day, walk away. Cause there's sense in what I say. I'm 45th generation Roman, but I don't know 'em or care when I'm spitting. So it's done to you sitting position and listen, it's fitting. And I'm miles ahead and they chase me. Show your face on TV, then we'll see. You can't do enough crew laughs. But you rubar up and custard versus. You rain down curses, but I'm waving your hurtes, driving by, streets riding high with the beats in the sky. Four stairs, eyes glazed, garrets burned down, the fire raised. For 40 days and in forty ways. But through the blaze, they see a fade, they see the black, the beaming heat on their faces. Then a figure emerges from the wasted, eyes transfixed with a piercing gaze. One hand clutched with sword, raised to the sky. They wonder how they wonder why. The sky turns white, it all becomes clear. They felt lifted from their fears. Five years older and wiser. The fires are burning on fire, never tired. Slay warriors in the forest.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

And uh ending the first half of the album with uh It's too late. Um, this is really interesting. Uh so I've been reading about it, and when I first saw the description of the album, I was and it said that it was like garage. I was expecting like a garage rock kind of thing, but apparently a UK garage is sort of a subgenre of electronic music. It's a totally different thing. Um yeah. But it's interesting. I I it's it's not I'm not saying it's a it's bad, I'm just it's not what I was expecting when I first heard that description. But um it's almost like uh the way that I would describe it is it's almost like typical like maybe American rap music, it's sort of flows. What that's sort of why they call it a flow, and it flows with um the music and it has a certain rhythm to it. This is almost like spoken word, and they recorded the vocals first and then put music underneath it.

SPEAKER_01 5:47

Maybe. Um yeah, I'm not sure what came first, the lyrics or the or the music. It's you know, if I listen with that in mind, it might come to me. Yeah, I don't know. It is interesting. I I've got a lot of respect for um um just the the sort of a different approach to music that this guy seems to have. Like it just sounds like even the music behind it is just so very different than what you would expect from like rap or or even electronic music or something like that. It's just it's got this very different thing. That said, I don't know if it's for me.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Yeah, I'm I'm kind of feeling the same way. It's it it is interesting and um I don't uh like you said, I do respect what he's doing but yeah, it is a bit hard to to connect with it. It's a bit um I don't know. It's there's it's it's almost like um I'm trying to think of his name. Is it is a he's another uh UK electronic music um producer. Oh Fat Boy Slim. Um he I I like his music because it's um I I there's just some there's some funkiness about it. And I I don't know if this is just because it's so it might just because it's something that I've never really paid much attention to that I don't know that much about, I'm not familiar with it, is why I'm having a hard time connecting with it. I I I don't really know. But it is cool, and I it is cool that he's doing this, and but it's yeah, you're right, it is hard to sort of get into it.

SPEAKER_01 7:38

That's kind of where I'm at. It's it's just it's it's definitely something that's that that's outside of something that I would normally listen to, and I'm really trying to you know find something that that connects me to it. But I'm having a hard time finding it. And I'm finding a lot of things that are very interesting about it. I'm finding a lot of things that are, you know, unique and cool. But but again, I don't think it's it wasn't made with me in mind for sure. Um but that's okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:10

Yeah, and that's sort of what I was saying about like the the the um the the the vocals and the music sort of being disconnected from each other. Um and and and I that's what I was saying, like like American hip hop, especially classic American hip hop, like uh like Run DMC and and um even some of the early gangster rap like NWA and this it's sort of like w and that that music was um like American rap music is like I said it has a flow to it. So you know you s maybe start with a beat, maybe you sample a beat from from a song that has a a drum break, or maybe you make the beat uh um from uh from a drum machine, but you start with a beat and maybe some minimal instruments and you you sort of uh create the rhythm, the rhyme to that rhythm. But but this feels like uh the the spoken word um whatever he wrote was written and then he just uh created the music it's like he had both the music uh and the the vocals separately and he just tried to sort of find two like the track that would work with the the vocals. It's sort of so it's it feels like it's hard to it was like the rhythm of his vocals aren't really matching the music. And I think that's what's sort of hard for me to hold grab onto. It's sort of like it is sort of like music that's disconnected from each other.

SPEAKER_01 9:59

Yeah, I don't know if I found it like quite like that, because but but yeah, it does seem a little on the disjointed side, like the uh the rhythms are odd, and then his speaking rhythm is is a little bit uh it's got an odd rhythm to itself, and yeah, when you put the two together, it sometimes seems like it clashes. But I was kind of surprised at how it's like they match each other by not matching.

SPEAKER_02 10:28

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I I'm not sure if that's intentional. Like it, but I'm not it could be intentional, but I'm just saying it feels like that's how it was done. It feels like they were sort of made separately without each other in mind. But I don't know if it's intentional. It's like it's intended to sound that way, but because it f sounds that way, it's hard for me to sort of grasp. It's you know what I mean? Like yeah, it's it's just um like and and if if that's intentional, that's cool. And like I said, respect what you're doing, trying something new, but just not quite connecting with it. It's okay, you know. I mean, you know, not every every album, and you know, the the the the it has happened before where the the second half has sort of surprised us. Um so that very well could happen as well here. Um but uh but you know, you never know. But yeah, for the the first half anyway, it's it's not it's not quite what I was expecting with the uh the garage label of uh you know, discovered that UK Garage is actually a subgenre of of electronic music. Um but uh yeah, I yeah. Uh but uh I did manage to find uh some uh some interesting facts about the album. Um and this m like it might r I do respect what he's doing because uh it was entirely DIY and bedroom produced. Um Mike Skinner, that's the guy uh his pseudon his pseudonym is the streets, that's his his uh the name that he goes by. Um is uh Mike Skinner recorded and mixed almost the whole album in his rented house in Brixton, South London, using just a laptop and basic home gear. He even created a makeshift vocal booth by stuffing a wardrobe with duvets and mattresses to control the sound, long before bedroom production became a common creative path for artists. So he's sort of a trailblazer in making music with just a laptop, yeah, back in 2001-2002. Which is, again, that's that's pretty cool. Yeah, it really is. I mean that he had the uh well then I mean it came out on an indie label, but the fact that he had any success doing that is back then, before I mean the internet was around, but it's not like it is today where you can just put your your music up and s someone will discover it. At that point you still had to put it out on on record and see if see if it went anywhere. And that was sort of that was sort of the last days of that. But but still, you still had to have some some buzz around you. Number two is the cover photo has its own story. The striking album cover isn't random, it's a photograph called Towering Inferno by Germ German artist Ruth Blies Luxemburg. It shows uh Kestrel House, a tower block on City Road in East London. The image reflects the everyday urban life the album captures captures in its music and lyrics. Um and it you know, it is uh an appropriate uh album cover.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

Sort of Yeah, I thought it it suited it pretty well, actually.

SPEAKER_02 13:53

And number three, it's uh it's sort of a unique uh British voice in hip-hop, and it's sort of what we're saying is rather than mimicking American hip-hop flows, uh Skinner used his natural British accent and conversational delivery, making his lyrics sound more like storytelling storytelling than traditional rap. This was an unusual uh at the t this was unusual at the time and helped establish his distinctive voice in British music. Um and that is kind of cool. It is cool, like I think it is it is interesting. It is un unique to to sort of have that that voice.

SPEAKER_01 14:33

Yeah, I don't really have a problem with his voice. It's uh again, it's it's uh it's it's a it's a British take on a on a on a music style that actually has its roots pretty well rooted in in the US. Um not that, you know, there haven't been, you know, rappers in the UK and stuff like that, but this really did sort of it it's a bit of a a trailblazer, maybe a I don't know how many British rappers came before this. I think there was probably a few, but it was uh something in 2002. This gotta have been because it was such a a phenomenon that like in the eighties and and early nineties, uh I'm sure it got over across the the pond in one form or another.

SPEAKER_02 15:25

Oh, for sure, yeah. Yeah, no, hip hip hop was huge in in the UK. Um yeah, even in the beginnings, uh in the eighties, it was it was pretty big. You know, uh yeah, and there are quite a few British rappers that you wouldn't really know that they were British because they are mimicking the sort of American style. But uh yeah, he just decided to do something totally different from it.

SPEAKER_01 15:55

But it's yeah, it's it's uh I guess maybe it's that style that he sort of pioneered using uh the actual British uh British uh accent and and dialect in you know, without trying to alter it. And I think that's partly why it comes off as uh sort of like spoken word. But I I guess a lot of rap is basically spoken word anyway.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

It is, but it's also it is spoken word, but again, like I it it has that the rhythm that goes with the music, right? Whereas this I but the the the he's using that that sort of London Cockney accent. It gives it some sort of uh like London street credibility that that you know that that is very important in hip hop, I think. Um he's just talking about his streets in London rather than you know New York or something. But uh the next uh the next fact is uh it was influenced by film and culture. Uh some of the album's songs drew inspiration from unexpected places. For example, Turn the Page was influenced by the 2000 film Gladiator. Uh Skinner blended British and global cultural elements into his songwriting, giving the album a narrative depth that went beyond party tracks. Um yeah, look, some of the lyrics that he's writing I do think are pretty cool. Um, and sort of talking about like the imagery that he's sort of creating about London, I do think that is kind of cool. Even if it's not quite connecting with me, like some of the lyrics are kind of interesting as well.

SPEAKER_01 17:34

Um, actually, the the stuff he was sort of rapping about is is sort of uh you know, again, unique to his area, or at least uh the terms that he's using are definitely unique to his area. And uh he's you know, like there was uh little geezers need excitement. I thought that was.

SPEAKER_03 17:56

Common sense, simple common sense. Geezers need excitement. If their lives don't provide them, this they incite violence. Common sense, simple common sense. Out the club about free to the takeaway, the shitting a tray merchant. Jump's got a special perchant for the disorderly. Geezers looking ordering, a few looking learning. Chips fly around to the sound of the latest jump entry, and incending, waiting to blast. No arm with a contest, who can throw the furbest? Behind the counter, they look nervous. But carry on cutting the finest cuts are ticking from the big spinning stick. Then overflies a chip, flips, nips you on the back. You spin round on the attack. Fuck you, play that. He looks like a gesture cat, almost falls down. You're frown, some superman high lasers don't even register. By now you wanna lever this quack. And forever you're gonna regret that. Your choice to pack. Some matches dead up and your girls now fed up. But stop to thinking it's never gonna be the Jackie Chan scene, it could have been to end up. Geezers need excitement. If their lives don't provide them, this they incite violence. Common sense, simple common sense. Geezers need excitement. If their lives don't provide them, this they incite violence. Common sense, simple common sense. So you owe someone money, sobbing scroll.

SPEAKER_01 19:17

You know, pointing outy, no worries, how uh people who don't have excitement in their lives will create it through chaos.

SPEAKER_02 19:24

Yeah, that that is true. And I've seen it, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Yeah, I've seen it too.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

And uh the number five, the last one is uh critical acclaim and legacy beyond the charts. Uh though it initially peaked at number 12 on the UK charts, original pirate material gained even more recognition over time, especially after the streets follow-up success. It's been widely celebrated by critics and has appeared on decade and best album lists, notable for its influence on UK garage, hip-hop, and British music storytelling. Um there you go. I mean, it does have influences, or it it or it does it has been people have cited as an influence. Um and uh you know that does just because it's not connecting with with uh with us doesn't mean it's uh uh not a valid um form of art or anything like that. Yeah, so those are some uh interesting facts about the album. Uh, but I guess we'll get back into the second side, or the second half rather, and uh it starts with a song Too Much Brandy. So uh here we go.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Smell of good earthy herbs makes my nerves shudder, but where were you that cold descent? Because we were in the grass up a spending central station charged up like Scarface. Amsterdam ain't a nice place off your face as we enter the race. Walked down, been there before, done that, no joy if you're bored. Let's go see Roy. Get fucked up with a bug. Calvin's Malvin, I'm well within my limit. Oh, hang on a minute, these mushrooms just kicked in. Think I might be finished. Ball game heads for the worst. What's worth I might just fall off the edge of the earth? Brain's kinda surfing now. We wander down darkened pathways in the days.

SPEAKER_04 21:16

Why might be Darling, darling, please save me? This is raving. Take me home to my baby, two bags and mushrooms, rooms crushed up. I need a plate.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

Okay, and then ending the album with stay positive. Uh yeah, I I don't the second half was a little more interesting. Um it had a little more rhythm to the the voice, I think, but it was still a bit disappointing. Connected for me. But there were some interesting moments, I think, in there with the music. Um yeah, I'm still not sure how to how I feel about it, to be honest.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Um Yeah, I can't say that the second half like changed my opinion of it on the other side. Like, I still respect it. I still think there's a lot of interesting things going on. I still think it's it's groundbreaking in a lot of ways. Again, it's just not equipment with me and mine. I can appreciate it for what it is though.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

Yeah, it's I do re I respect him for what he's doing, respect the art form that he's creating, is creating sort of a new sort of thing in hip hop, but yeah, the the second half, um there was some interest like I think I like that last track, Stay Positive, because it is more like a traditional hip-hop sort of thing.

SPEAKER_03 23:19

Cause it's well, swallow souls, and when the blue's unfolded, it gets cold. Solids burn holes. You're going mad, perhaps shit always works. But when things was good, you just didn't care. This is called irony. When you most need to get up, you got enough energy. Time and time shit'll happen. The dark shit's I'm rapping, but no one's listening. Your mates are laughing, your breath drinks fucking, and then you start aching. Your stomach starts churning and your mind starts turning. To smoking up a draw, it won't matter no more. But the next day still feels sore. Brain taps on your window, always did though, but you didn't hear it when things were so slow. You're on your own now. You're a little zone. You were born alone, and believe me, you'll die alone. Well it becomes a chore, you want the buzz back, so you fought but the others wants to smack.

SPEAKER_04 24:05

Just try and stay positive.

unknown 24:10

Just try and stay positive. Just try and stay positive.

SPEAKER_02 24:21

Just try and stay positive. Feels nice and still. Good thing about it. I like that was probably my favorite track if I had to pick. That was probably the the one that I would pick. But other than that, yeah, it's it's hard to sort of connect with it, really. But I'm not sure. I don't know if it's something that I would need to listen to again. And maybe it's something that on first listen it's because it's it is quite different than any anything that I have heard. So I don't know if if like another listen will something will click for me. Uh like I'm not sure. Um because like I said, I like I do respect what he's trying to do. And it's not like, you know, it's not like Gigi Allen where he's you know throwing feces into the audience. Like it's uh right? He's not he's not try he's not being antagonistic to his audience or anything like that. He's you know, he's I know that's a weird comparison.

SPEAKER_01 25:26

Gigi Allen's just quite an enigma. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:30

But I but you know what I mean? Like he's not um he's earnest in in what he's trying to do. Like he's not trying to to shock anybody. He's not trying to he's just make trying to make his art. Um so I don't know if if like another listen taking another pass at it will be will something will click for me, and it's yeah, I'm just having this reaction because it's it's just not what I was expecting and not what I'm used to. Um but uh I don't know. Hav having said that, what what do you think would be your three uh highlights on the album? The most interesting songs?

SPEAKER_01 26:08

Let's see here. There's there's some pretty good ones in in in the later half too, but there was a couple I liked in the first half too, so um I thought geezers need excitement, I mentioned that one. Don't mug yourself, probably. I thought that one was pretty funny. Um and the irony of it all was also kind of funny.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Yeah, see I that's that that was that one is interesting to me, the irony of it all, because if I Okay, if I had to pick two tracks, I would say that one and stay positive. Stay positive for the music. I like the beat in that one. Um and uh and the irony of it all, I like the back and forth. I like that the music changed depending on who was talking. Whether it was like the street kid or the I think it was a cop they were trying to do, like just or an authority figure anyway. Um so I like that the music the the it was very uh cinematic. So I like that. So yeah, that would be one of mine. Um stay positive would be my other, and um yeah, probably geezers need excitement. That would be that would be mine as well. I thought that was kind of funny. So I think I know the answer, but would you listen to this album again?

SPEAKER_01 27:28

Uh I wouldn't be opposed to it. I but I I kind of feel like I might need to, but it's not something I think I'd ever put on for myself.

SPEAKER_02 27:37

Yeah. Yeah, I I I feel the same way. I'm I'm interested to see like I I think I would listen to it just to see if there's something that I'm missing on the first pass. Um but like my first reaction would i for this is I probably wouldn't I I wouldn't I it's not immediately like yeah, I gotta listen to this again because it's so good. It's I should listen to this because maybe there's something I'm missing. Yeah, so I I agree. So uh um so I guess we'll uh end the episode there. Uh thank you so much for listening. If you made it this far, uh we would love to hear from you. Um if you want to drop us a line, you can do that by going to polyphonicpress.com slash contact. And uh you can um while you're on the website, you can uh get all the episodes that we've done so far. And uh if you want to help out the show, you can do that by clicking the uh support link in the description as well. And any bit of uh any donation helps, big or small, uh whatever you want to give. And I think that just about does it. Uh I'm Jeremy Boyd.

SPEAKER_01 28:49

I'm Don Van Dyke. Take it easy.