Michael Geoffrey Skinner (born 27 November 1978) is an English rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. Best known for the music project

the Streets The Streets is an English musical project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner (musician), Mike Skinner. The project was founded in the early 90s, while Skinner was still a teenager; however, no music would formally eventuat ...

, Skinner has also released music as a solo artist, as part of the D.O.T. with frequent collaborator Rob Harvey, and under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light.

Early life

Skinner grew up in West Heath,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. He started playing with keyboards aged five. When he was seven years old he began experiencing symptoms of

epilepsy Epilepsy is a group of Non-communicable disease, non-communicable Neurological disorder, neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked Seizure, seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activit ...

, which worsened in his early teens. He began writing

hip hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...

and

garage A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

music in his home in West Heath and later built a sound booth in his bedroom, using a cupboard and a mattress. He describes his background as " Barratt class: suburban estates, not poor but not much money about, really boring". At age 19, Skinner moved to Australia with his girlfriend; after the relationship ended Skinner stayed in Australia for a year. Upon his return to the United Kingdom, Skinner moved to south London. He sent a demo tape of an early version of what would become the song "

Has It Come to This? "Has It Come to This?" is a song by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner under the music project the Streets. It was released in October 2001 as the lead single from their debut album '' Original Pirate Material''. The song reached number 18 ...

" to a record shop run by A&R Nick Worthington. The song was released as a single in 2001, through

Locked On Records Locked On Records is a British record label, concentrating on UK garage and grime music. Founded in 1996 in London by Tarik Nashnush who was working at the record shop Pure Groove at the time, it is a subsidiary of XL Recordings. Among the arti ...

Music career

The Streets (1994–2011, 2017–present)

In the albums Skinner made under the name the Streets, he focused on vocals, arranging, composing, mixing, keyboards, and synthesizers.

The Beats Recordings

In 2005, Skinner and Ted Mayhem launched the independent record label The Beats Recordings. A subsidiary of

679 Recordings 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with Warner Mu ...

, The Beats was home to British hip hop acts such as

the Mitchell Brothers The Mitchell Brothers were a Ghanaians in the United Kingdom, Ghanaian British Rapping, rap duo from London, England, consisting of cousins Owura "Tony" Nyanin from Manor Park, London, Manor Park and Kofi "Teddy" Hanson from Stockwell. They w ...

Example Example may refer to: * ''exempli gratia'' (e.g.), usually read out in English as "for example" * .example, reserved as a domain name that may not be installed as a top-level domain of the Internet ** example.com, example.net, example.org, an ...

, and

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English pop artist, rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Gr ...

. In a 2008 interview with ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', Skinner announced that the label had shut down. In 2012, Skinner stated in an interview that the label was starting up again.

The D.O.T. and Tonga Balloon Gang (2011–present)

After shelving the Streets, Skinner launched a new project, called the D.O.T, along with Rob Harvey of alternative rock band

the Music The Music was an English alternative rock band, formed in Kippax, Leeds in 1999. Comprising Robert Harvey (vocals, guitar), Adam Nutter (lead guitar), Stuart Coleman (bass) and Phil Jordan (drums), the band came to prominence with the releas ...

. Harvey performs on vocals, allowing Skinner to "further develop his production approach". Their first album, '' And That'', was released on 22 October 2012. Their second album titled ''Diary'' was released on 5 May 2013. In 2013, Skinner remixed Norwich rapper

Context In semiotics, linguistics, sociology and anthropology, context refers to those objects or entities which surround a ''focal event'', in these disciplines typically a communicative event, of some kind. Context is "a frame that surrounds the event ...

's song "Small Town Lad Sentiments". The remix features on Context's second EP, ''Hindsight is the Purest Form of Romance'' (2014). In 2015, he remixed

Slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

' breakthrough single "Cheer Up London" alongside

Jammer Jammer may refer to: Signal blocking devices * Radar jammer, a device used in radar jamming and deception * Radio jammer, a device used in radio jamming * Radio-controlled Improvised Explosive Device jammer, a counter-IED device * Mobile phon ...

. The remix featured on an extended play exclusive to

HMV HMV is an international music and entertainment retailer, founded in 1921. The brand is owned by Hilco Capital and operated by Sunrise Records, except in Japan, where it is owned and operated by Lawson. The inaugural shop was opened on Lo ...

, released alongside the group's debut album ''Are You Satisfied?''. Skinner teamed up with UK rap group Murkage to form a supergroup named Tonga Balloon Gang, and they released an eponymous three-track EP on 14 November 2015. The release features additional vocals from Jammer and

Big Narstie Tyrone Mark Lindo (born 16 November 1985), known by his stage name Big Narstie, is a British MC, author, rapper, singer, songwriter, comedian and television presenter. He started his career in 2002 as a member of grime crew "N Double A," thoug ...

. In 2016, Skinner released several tracks on SoundCloud under the name the Darker the Shadow, the Brighter the Light. In April 2017, he released the song "Bad Decisions in the Night" on digital platforms.

Artistry

Musical style

Skinner is best known for his lyricism matched with his blurring of musical styles of

UK garage UK garage, abbreviated as UKG, is a genre of electronic dance music which originated in England in the early to mid-1990s. The genre was most clearly inspired by garage house and jungle production methods, but also incorporates elements from ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

, and

ska Ska (; , ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a w ...

. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reviewer Dave Simpson particularly praised Skinner's "dazzling wordplay".

Influences

Skinner is influenced by musical genres including

, and

country and western music Country (also called country and western) is a music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is primarily focused on singing stori ...

. Some of the many hip hop artists that influenced him in the making of some of the Streets' albums are

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...

, and

Erick Sermon Erick Sermon (born November 25, 1968) is an American rapper and producer. He is best known as one-third—alongside PMD & DJ Scratch—of 1980s/1990s hip hop group EPMD and for his production work. Early life Erick Sermon was born on November ...

Acting and movie work

The soundtrack album for the film ''

The Inbetweeners Movie ''The Inbetweeners Movie'' (known simply as ''The Inbetweeners'' in North America) is a 2011 British Coming-of-age film, coming-of-age teen film, teen adventure film, adventure comedy film based on the E4 (channel), E4 sitcom ''The Inbetweeners' ...

'' was released in 2011, featuring ten new compositions by Skinner. On 19 October 2007, the first episode of Skinner's late-night television programme, ''Beat Stevie'', aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. Skinner had a cameo role in the fifth series of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'' as a security guard, featuring in the episode "

The Time of Angels "The Time of Angels" is the fourth episode of the fifth series of the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast on 24 April 2010 on BBC One. It is the first episode of a two-part story written by showru ...

Personal life

In 2008, Skinner took time off from the Streets to battle symptoms of

chronic fatigue syndrome Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling Chronic condition, chronic illness. People with ME/CFS experience profound fatigue that does not go away with rest, as well as sleep issues and problems with memory ...

and later wrote the song "Trying to Kill M.E." to document his fight against the disorder. In 2010, Skinner married Claire Le Marquand after their daughter Amelia was born in 2009. They also have a son, George, born in 2011.

Discography

The Streets

*''

Original Pirate Material ''Original Pirate Material'' is the debut studio album by English hip hop project the Streets, released on 25 March 2002. Recorded mostly in a room in a south London house rented at the time by principal member Mike Skinner, the album is musica ...

'' (2002) *''

A Grand Don't Come for Free ''A Grand Don't Come for Free'' is the second studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project the Streets. It was released on 17 May 2004 and is listed in the book ''1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die''. ...

'' (2004) *''

The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living ''The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living'' is the third studio album by Mike Skinner (musician), Mike Skinner, under the music project The Streets. It was released on 10 April 2006 in the United Kingdom and 25 April 2006 in North America. It is ...

'' (2006) *''

Everything Is Borrowed ''Everything Is Borrowed'' is the fourth studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project the Streets. Released in the United Kingdom on 15 September 2008, and in the United States on 7 October 2008, Skinner des ...

'' (2008) *''

Computers and Blues ''Computers and Blues'' is the fifth studio album by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under the music project The Streets. It was officially released in the United Kingdom on 7 February 2011; at the time Skinner said it would be the la ...

'' (2011) *''

None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive ''None of Us Are Getting Out of This Life Alive'' is a mixtape by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner, under his music project the Streets. It was released on 10 July 2020 under Island Records. Singles On 14 April 2020, the Streets announ ...

'' (2020) *'' The Darker the Shadow the Brighter the Light'' (2023)

The D.O.T

* '' And That'' (2012) * ''

Diary A diary is a written or audiovisual memorable record, with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries have traditionally been handwritten but are now also often digita ...

'' (2013)

Biography

*''The Story of The Streets.'' London:

Bantam Press Bantam Press is an imprint of Transworld Publishers which is a British publishing division of Penguin Random House. It is based on Uxbridge Road in Ealing near Ealing Broadway station, London, the same address as Transworld. It releases har ...

, 2012. By Mike Skinner. 304 pages. . Biography recording his beginnings as a musician in the Birmingham suburbs in the garage scene, to his struggles as a commercial musician.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skinner, Mike 1978 births Living people English male singer-songwriters English male rappers English record producers Rappers from Birmingham, West Midlands People with epilepsy British musicians with disabilities Singers with disabilities UK garage musicians Alternative hip-hop musicians Grime music artists Rappers from London 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers English people with disabilities People with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome The Streets members