The Streets have just shared two new performances for Amazon Music’s ‘Lockdown Sessions’ on their YouTube channel, featuring medleys that splice together both classic and new material.
Their first musical mash-up includes UK garage classic ‘Has It Come To This?’, taken from their 2002 debut ‘Original Pirate Material’, and ‘I Wish You Loved You As Much As You Loved Him’, taken from their 2020 mixtape ‘None Of Us Are Getting Out Of This Alive’. The second medley then features their iconic track ‘Fit But You Know It’, which originally appeared on the Streets’ 2004 sophomore album ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’, alongside ‘Take Me As I Am’, another cut from their recent mixtape.
Supported by his band, Skinner’s spoken word rap still carries the same charm that it did when it first appeared nearly 20 years ago. This off-kilter brand of rap, one that ignores conventional flows, pockets, and rhyme schemes, is sustained throughout any project that Skinner has ever released. In fact, it is something that is particularly emphasised by this recent ‘Lockdown Sessions’ set. Performing new and old material alongside one another, Skinner highlights the paradox of his music: it is music that is effortlessly contemporary but holds on to components that have remained unchanged for 20 years.
The 41-year-old’s willingness to embrace the ever-changing landscape of music was epitomised in an interview that he did with Hot Press last year. When prompted to discuss how music has changed over the last twenty years, he said, “The difficult thing now is to get noticed and to stay noticed as there is so much choice. But everything else has become so much easier. It’s a pleasure to have done it in the old way and also to do it in the new way as well.”
He added, “It’s a bit like DJs who used to DJ on vinyl, they’ve got no interest in going back to vinyl because vinyl means massive heavy boxes and you have to choose the records you are going to play before you get to the club. Now, you can play anything you want anytime. I am the same with making and promoting an album, I would never go back to the old ways.”
The effect that The Streets’ cinematic debut ‘Original Pirate Material’ has had on the UK scene is immeasurable. Beyond the undeniable impact that it had on garage and 2-step production, it changed both UK hip-hop and electronic music forever. Having not released an album since 2011, fans will be desperate to see what a full-length LP from The Streets’ might look and sound like in 2021.
Check out The Streets’ two performances for Amazon Music’s ‘Lockdown Sessions’ below:
