The Streets Videos

(Originally posted on Mixi and MySpace on Monday, December 04th, 2006)

Mike Skinner AKA The Streets - is one of the most interesting artists to emerge from the UK music scene in recent years, his unique blend of hip-hop and UK Garage styles and vivid lyrical description of London life gaining him fans around the world. Today I've been checking out his music videos on YouTube and here are the best five. Enjoy...

The Irony of It All

In this track/video Skinner highlights the potential polarity of two popular lifestyle choices by playing the roles of two stereotypical British characters - the working class lager lout and the middle class student stoner. He plays both characters well, and genuinely looks drunk in the pub scenes!

Fit But You Know It

This track sounds like Blur's 'Parklife', and like that song it'll have you singing along with the chorus. The video uses the premise of Skinner collecting his holiday photos from the camera shop, and the photos are used effectively to illustrate the track's story about him meeting a 'fit' girl while he was out drinking. Keep an eye out for a cameo appearance by some of the main actors from British football hooligan film 'Green Street Hooligans'.

Weak Become Heroes

This track is an ode to luvdup clubbing and the video sees Skinner enjoying a night out at a club. The visuals match the song's lyrics and house music vibe perfectly, and the vid is sure to appeal to anyone who's experienced the UK club scene.

Blinded By The Lights

At first this video seems like it's going to be a simple rehash of the 'Weak Become Heroes' video, but with a wedding reception instead of a club. Instead however, the video does a good job of enhancing the lyrics of the track which - like the album it's taken from - places an emphasis on storytelling. The track is about his girlfriend cheating on him with his best mate, and in the video Skinner gets figuratively battered in the middle and literally battered at the end.

Don't Mug Yourself

There's a surreal quality to this video as the set keeps changing as Skinner moves (or, more accurately, is moved) from one location to another. The best thing about this video though is the facial expressions used by Skinner and the other actors.

Hope you enjoyed the clips. You can check out more info about The Streets on his MySpace, and I'll be putting his complete music promo videography on one of my other websites (Club YouTube) very soon.