The Streets' Mike Skinner: 'AI Will Force Us to Be More Bonkers'

Mike Skinner is back with his first proper album for The Streets in 12 years. JOHANNA LEGUERRE / AFP
Mike Skinner is back with his first proper album for The Streets in 12 years. JOHANNA LEGUERRE / AFP
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The Streets' Mike Skinner: 'AI Will Force Us to Be More Bonkers'

Mike Skinner is back with his first proper album for The Streets in 12 years. JOHANNA LEGUERRE / AFP
Mike Skinner is back with his first proper album for The Streets in 12 years. JOHANNA LEGUERRE / AFP

Mike Skinner of The Streets has returned "rejuvenated" with a new album and his own self-made movie, optimistic for the future of music as it sits on the cusp of an AI revolution.

Having defined a musical era in the early 2000s with his unique mash-up of UK garage and US hip-hop, Skinner retired from The Streets in 2011, said AFP.

The project flickered back to life a few years ago with occasional tours and singles, and on Friday sees the release of the first proper album in 12 years, "The Darker The Shadow, The Brighter The Light".

But Skinner's real obsession for the past decade has been the movie of the same name which it soundtracks -- one in which he starred, as well as wrote, directed, shot, edited and funded by himself.

"It's actually a lot easier to make a film than you think... It's just the amount of work that's the problem," he told AFP during a trip to Paris.

"I really enjoyed each individual job -- recording the sound, lighting the scenes. Even the special effects -- which are awful -- I did myself," he said with typically self-deprecating frankness.

Set in the underworld of London clubs, the film has the same jarring feel as his music -- a homespun delivery that straddles the line between amateurish and daringly experimental.

"The reason it seems experimental is just because I did everything myself and I didn't really know how it's supposed to be done," he said.

"But my best work in the past I think has been when I didn't know how things were supposed to be done.

"I sabotage myself... Even if I could make my stuff sound slick I would pull it apart because I would feel that's fake somehow.

"I can't quite bear to do things well," he added with a chuckle.

'So much weirder'

It is that embracing of imperfection that has made The Streets such a singular musical creation.

It also gives Skinner hope for the future at a time when the industry is freaking out over the coming deluge of AI-generated music.

"AI will make human creativity so much weirder because in order to stand out against that you won't be able to copy anything," Skinner said.

"It will force humans to be a bit more bonkers and a bit more avant-garde."

The Streets released the game-changing "Original Pirate Material" in 2002, putting a laddish British spin on hip-hop with lyrics that were more about "greasy spoon cafeterias" than gangsters and diamond rings.

Four studio albums followed until Skinner announced he had "run out of new avenues".

The film, however, has "totally rejuvenated" his passion, and several years of DJ-ing in clubs have given him a slate of banging new tunes, such as recent hit "Troubled Waters".

He cannot quite help a bit more self-deprecation, though.

"I think we've only really got a few songs in us to be honest. Bob Dylan said it: 'I've only ever written one song but I just do it over and over again.'

"That's why I think adding a film to that just makes it more interesting."

One downer is that he cannot tour Europe.

"We can't afford to do a tour here, which is really sad. It's a Brexit-related thing," he said, outlining the onerous tax and paperwork problems that Brexit has caused for British musicians, though he hopes to come for festivals next summer.

Having returned to The Streets in his forties, can he see himself still clubbing into his old age?

"I think I might be dancing on the QM2 from Southampton to New York on an eight-day cruise," he said with a grin, referring to the luxury Queen Mary 2 cruise liner.

"And maybe I might sneak in some ecstasy. I'm sure they'll be up for it."



Australia Says it Cancelled Kanye West's Visa over 'Heil Hitler' Song

FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020.  REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020. REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo
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Australia Says it Cancelled Kanye West's Visa over 'Heil Hitler' Song

FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020.  REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Rapper Kanye West makes a point as he holds his first rally in support of his presidential bid in North Charleston, South Carolina, US July 19, 2020. REUTERS/Randall Hill/File Photo

Kanye West, also known as Ye, has had his Australian visa cancelled after he released “Heil Hitler”, a song promoting Nazism, the country’s home affairs minister said on Wednesday.

The US rapper released the song that praised the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler across social media and music streaming platforms in May this year.

The song came a few months after West made a string of antisemitic posts on X, which included comments such as "I love Hitler" and "I'm a Nazi".

According to Reuters, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said that while previous offensive comments made by West had not affected his visa status, officials “looked at it again” after the song’s release.

“It was a lower level (visa) and the officials still looked at the law and said you're going to have a song and promote that sort of Nazism, we don't need that in Australia," he told national broadcaster ABC on Wednesday.

"We have enough problems in this country already without deliberately importing bigotry."

Burke added that West had family in Australia and had been a longtime visitor prior to the visa cancellation. The singer married his wife Bianca Censori, an Australian architect, in December 2022.

Burke's office declined to comment on the exact date of the visa cancellation. West's management did not respond immediately to a request for comment outside U.S. business hours.

In October 2024, US conservative influencer Candace Owens was also barred from entry into Australia. Burke said “Australia's national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else”.