The Streets' songs of then and now

Take 5

In the early 00’s The Streets burst onto the scene. Original Pirate Material was like nothing else around, combining garage beats with everyday stories from a geezer we could all relate to. Mike Skinner wanted to literally push things forward, taking the garage genre in a new direction and using his lyrics to talk about what was really going on inside the hearts and minds of people in the clubs. It struck a chord, and The Streets got a lot of attention.

Over five albums Mike Skinner would tour Australia a whole lot, always playing festivals and always drawing a huge crowd. Then in 2011 he called it a day, releasing his final album and doing his final shows as The Streets. Music stayed in his life though. He threw himself into producing, directing, and most notably DJ-ing, behind the decks instead of out front on stage.

Across his five songs choices we get a snapshot of a kid writing raps in his notebook in a hostel in Sydney. As well as the man today who is older, wiser, more grounded but with plenty of stories to tell. From Johnny Cash to Grim Sickers to Daft Punk, this is The Streets, Taking 5 with Zan Rowe and playing us his songs from then and now.

• Johnny Cash - A Boy Named Sue
• Snoop Dogg - Serial Killa [Ft. D.O.C., RBX & Tha Dogg Pound]
• Grim Sickers - Open The Till [Ft. Ghetts & Darker The Shadow Brighter The Light]
• Daniel Bedingfield – Gotta Get Thru This
• Daft Punk - Human / Together / One More Time / Music Sounds Better with You / Stardust (Instrumental) [Live]