The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

The Streets

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 25, 2006)
• Original Release Date: April 25, 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Vice/Atlantic
• ASIN: B000EQ46KA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #48,777 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
On the Streets' third album, the conceit is that Mike Skinner's now a famous guy (and he indeed is in the UK--as he puts it, "I've sold 3 million and you've never heard of me"). So, instead of dissecting the stereotypes and prejudices of an average Joe, Skinner turns his keen eye for detail on himself, to his new life of easy drugs and easier girls, of trashing hotel rooms, and being bummed out when your record label does promotional stuff without telling you about it first. Sonically it's more polished and a tad faster, though the music's still stripped-down and tough, propelled by loud synth lines and minimal drums. Skinner's flow remains original and wonderfully sing-songy. And while it's cool to see him actually write about his current life instead of pretending he's still "street," the subject matter's a touch too similar to an anorexic debutante's diary entry to make for very compelling hip-hop. When he asks "How the hell am I supposed to be able to do a line in front of complete strangers/When I know they've all got camera[phone]s?," it's definitely tough to care too much, no matter how fun the music is. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description
The new Streets album The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living, out April 25th, is a completely autobiographical record that covers everything that has happened to Mike over the past few years since he's become a well known figure in the UK. There's love, loss, scandal, violence, sex, drugs and a whole load of bad behavior and regret. This true story begins with the first single, "When You Wasn't Famous."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Fun!, April 25, 2006

By	Cale E. Reneau "audiooverflow.com" (Conroe, Texas United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I was not a fan of The Streets. There's a good reason for everything, and I believe the reason for this is because I never really gave it a good listen. That all changed with "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living" because, quite simply, I can't stop listening! In my ADD-ridden life, it's tough for hip-hop to have any sort of lasting effect on me. Usually hip-hop albums get quite old, quite fast, at least for me. But I have been listening to this album for several weeks now and I plan to continue this for some time. Being a newcomer to The Streets, I am thoroughly amazed by how solid, clever, and brilliant this album is!

Solid: Song for song, this is a truly amazing album. It begins strongly with "Pranging Out," arguably the most accessible song on the album for casual listeners. This is how I was hooked in. The production values are top-notch and the lyrics are flawless. Honestly, my description for the opening track is really not all that different from the rest of the album. Each song, with the exception of 'Fake Street Hat' (maybe), is grade A quality. Forget about calling this a great hip-hop album. This is just a great album. Pure and simple.

Clever: Oh where do I begin on this? It starts pretty early with "War of the Sexes," a song about the differences between men and women and the difficulties for men in picking up women. He especially pays close attention to how womens' intellect is "higher," saying, "She's calculating all of the mad facts and figures/while you're pretending to listen, staring at her t**ts." See what I mean? Clever. In fact, the album can really be seen as an assortment of funny-because-it's-true lines. Take, for example, the line "If you never tell a lie to her, you don't have to remember anything!" Gosh! How true, how clever. In the song "Two Nations," the differences between England and the United States are compared in a serious, yet quasi-funny manner ("I'm proud we gave you people like John Lennon....even though you shot him as well"). Make no mistake about it, this album does not suffer in the lyrics department. It excels.

Brilliant: "Can't Con an Honest Jon" is a song about pulling off a con. To be more precise, it is a song describing, in detail, how to pull off a con. Again, it's clever, but it really is just an awesome idea for a song. What's more brilliant about this album, however, is just the sheer awesomeness that is exhibits. Despite its humorous moments and pervasive non-consequential moments, "The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living" still has its moments of sorrow and regret. "Never Went to Church" is a song about the memory of Mike Skinner's father and his search for God. It's wihout question, the most touching song on the album. In all it's honesty, it still remains a good quality song and you'll find yourself singing along with the chorus in no time. Amazing....brilliant....

To Americans, the idea of someone with a British accent rapping is really just a ludicrous idea. It's unfortunate, because American's could really be exposed to some of the greatest hip-hop available. Dizzee Rascal, The Streets, and others could really put Mike Jones and Paul Wall to shame. I guess that's what Mike means when he says "That's why I've sold 3 million albums and you've never heard of me." It's a shame, but for those of us who have heard...well we can brag about it.

Recommended to fans of Dizzee Rascal and The Streets and anyone who is tired of hearing songs about grills, rims, b**ches, hoes, being in the club, getting crunk, or anything else that makes you feel dumb for listening to it.

Key Tracks:
1. "Pranging Out"
2. "War of the Sexes"
3. "All Goes Out the Window"
4. "When You Wasn't Famous'
5. "Never Went To Church"

4 out of 5 Stars.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Merp., May 25, 2006

By	John A. Busch "I love potatos." (Davenport, IA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The reason I like the Streets is because I don't like rap. I'm a total crossover fan, but I am a fan. And what I liked about his last two releases is that they sounded so bizarre, that it wasn't even like rap. As one friend described it "a British guy talking over a drum beat," which is kind of true, but gosh the things he said were just so great.

Being an isolated American, the most entertaining portrait I've ever seen of the underbelly of British culture is from two of my favorite movies, Snatch and Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. And what's great about those movies is the extremely witty dialogue and the constant tongue in cheekery that goes on. Same goes for Mike Skinner's first two cds. I love hearing an honest everyman's point of view on such subjects as: dating, cell-phones, "mugging yourself," smoking weed and playing playstation, yukking it up with buddies, etc. And I like that gritty garage 2-step, do-it-yourself beats that he comes in with that sound just so freaking weird and unconventional that at first you can't believe its music.

And...
now...
Mike SKinner
is freaking huge.

His songs are all about being rich and famous, and not in an illuminating or surprising way. It's not about an everyman anymore, its like an MTV special, inside a celebrity's life.

And the beats are smooth, with impeccable singing(I really, really enjoyed hearing Mike Skinner struggle to stay on key while singing about "this thing he saw on his tv the other week") and HOOKS HOOKS HOOKS. Elements for a real great pop song.

It's easy to listen to a dude just like me complain about how things are. When his "Mike" character up and lost a thousand quid, I felt that annoyance and paranoia and pissed off at everything stuff. But when Mike Skinner, "UK's biggest living celebrity" complains about not being able to hold on to fifty grand, I'm not listening unless you've got something else interesting to say about it.

But still, I am a fan of Mike Skinner. Everything he does, I like. I like the sound of his voice, and he is way better than any other hip hop or rap or whatever act I can think of. It's nice to hear about something other than blingbling and street credz. I really like the song about the con with the dog, even though it seems really out of place (why is a millionaire going around grifting bar keeps out of four hundred pounds?)

And I like when Skinny gets personal and honest("Never Went to Church"). And I love when he turns a phrase (see: any British colloquialism I'm not familiar with.) And I'm pretty pumped about when he talks about everyday stuff from an artful dodger's perspective ("War of the Sexes.") But there just isn't enough of that stuff in this album. It seems like a concept album, like the last one was. A Grand Don't Come to Free tells a nice story, and is resolved in a surprising and satisfying way.

But this CD is all about how glum it is to be on top of the world. And I feel it. I feel it through the whole thing and then by the end, I am still feeling it but I don't know what to do with that feeling. And it's not a good feeling.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living, May 18, 2006

By	T. Snyder "TS" (AZ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Streets (Mike Skinner) is one of my favorite artists around. He's very original, hard-to-categorize, and doesn't sound like a lot of other hiphop acts.

This CD is yet another solid album beginning to end. It's not quite as good as A Grand..., which was a great day-in-the-life-of concept album, but this one's still great. I could see if you were a die-hard rap fan who only listened to rap, you might not like this guy.

The Streets always covers diverse topics (ie, missing his dead dad); he's one of the 'realest' rappers out there, not afraid to reveal his emotions and personal life.

The beats are actually decent, with more electro influences. The beats are still simple. The Streets is definitely not all about great beats; it's always been about Mike's rapping/talking. Luckily that format hasn't changed at all.

This is a very solid album. My biggest complaint is that it's too short at 11 songs 37 minutes long. Recommended to fans of his previous work.