A Grand Don't Come for Free

Plot

In the story, the protagonist loses £1000, or a "grand" in slang terms, and strives to recoup the money.

In his book The Story of the Streets Skinner explained his decision to create a story that ran through the album:

"The reason I decided to write A Grand Don't Come for Free as episodes from a single unfolding narrative was because I'd got so into my songwriting manuals and books by Hollywood screen-writing gurus – not just Robert McKee but Syd Field and John Truby as well – and I wanted to try and put what I'd learnt from them into practice. Every song needs a drama at the centre of it, and once you have the drama, the song writes itself – that's what I firmly believed, and still do believe. I'm not alone in this convicition, either. It's something pretty much all rappers seem to be sure about."

In the first track on the album, "It Was Supposed to Be So Easy", Skinner attempts several tasks during a day but they do not go according to plan. When he comes home he cannot find the thousand pounds he has saved and his television is broken. In the process of trying to recover the money he:

Like the Streets' debut album Original Pirate Material the album was recorded in a flat in south London, but this time in Skinner's own flat in Stockwell which he had bought using the money he had received upon signing his publishing deal.

Artwork

The front cover of the album features Skinner posing in a bus shelter at night. The bus shelter was located in Birmingham, where Skinner had grown up, but when Skinner revisited the site in 2012 he found that the shelter had been replaced with a more modern one.

Singles

The first single from the album, "Fit But You Know It" reached number four on the UK Singles Charts with the second single, "Dry Your Eyes" entering the UK Charts at number one. The album itself reached number one in the UK Album Charts, number eleven in Australia and number eighty-two in the United States.

Critical reception

Critical response for the album, like for his previous album, was near universally positive. It currently scores 91/100 on Metacritic, slightly higher than his previous album, which scored 90/100.

Many critics have noted Skinner's difference in style compared to other artists. Trouser Press said that "Skinner seems both edgier and more contemplative." The Guardian described that the album "raises the stakes to such an extent that it sounds literally unprecedented: there isn't really any other album like this.", and PopMatters described that Skinner "is now in a class all his own; nobody else is making music like this." Austin Chronicle named the album "The first hip-hop classic of the new millennium."

"In a previous decade, A Grand Don't Come for Free would have been a rock opera, and it would have taken itself very seriously," observed Blender. "But Skinner isn't interested in pinball wizards or ancient alien races… [It] demands the same attention as a movie, and that's why some people will hate it while others will find it uniquely riveting."

Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed A Grand Don't Come for Free at number 129 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s. Music magazine NME placed the album at number 16 on their list of "top 50 albums of the noughties".

Track listing

All tracks written by Mike Skinner.