Original Pirate Material
The Streets
- 2 x LP
- Label
- 679, Locked On
Original Pirate Material is the debut album by the English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the name The Streets.
His stance when making the album was to combine the UK garage sound with a lyrical content about "all the little adventures you go on" rather than the style of UK hip hop, which he accused of being "someone from Reading pretending to be Biggie or Q-Tip".
Original Pirate Material received widespread critical acclaim, with many reviewers praising the originality and humour of Skinner's lyrics, and subsequent critics' polls have placed it among the best albums of the 2000s.
In the United Kingdom, four singles were released from Original Pirate Material: "Has It Come to This?", "Let's Push Things Forward", "Weak Become Heroes" and "Don't Mug Yourself".