"Routine Check" is a 2004 song by the Mitchell Brothers, featuring Kano and The Streets. It was their highest-charting single, charting at #42 on the UK Singles Chart.
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The song is a defiant response to the perceived racism of the UK Police's "stop and search" policy.
In 2012, Tony Mitchell said that the song summed him up as an artist and that the song was about a real situation in that many youngsters had to deal with such police interactions. He said that he wanted people "to like it, for them to like the funny side of it, but understand the seriousness of it as well. At that time with a lot of artists it was cool to be macho, but bringing that wit and humour for me was important."
Critical reception
Critical reception was mixed. John Murphy of musicOMH said the song was "the Mitchells at their most incendiary", arguing that the song could potentially be the English version of NWA's "Fuck Tha Police" and that "a whole generation of black youths" would be able to identify with it. About the featured artists on the song, he commented: "The appearance of both Mike Skinner and Grime's latest rising star Kano gives the track added prestige." Hattie Collins of The Guardian felt that the Mitchells' contribution to the track was inferior to Kano's contribution: "their flat flow, perhaps meant to lend a more authentic feel, serves only to make them all the more monotonous".
Aftermath
In an interview with Music Week, Robbie Williams revealed that he had played the song "to death", and as a result was inspired to record "Dickhead", a hidden track on his ninth studio album, Rudebox.