Oy, oy? Turn off the telly mates, and get ready for the sophomore efforts from Mike Skinner, aka The Streets. A follow-up to 2002's Original Pirate Material, A Grand Don't Come For Free promises more mishaps and wild nights from the life and times of a Birmingham delinquent.

In the last year or two, I have run across many Streets fans, and many who loathe him, but not many in between. I am in the former, so I was very excited to get this disc into my hands.

The CD makes a grand entrance with triumphant horns, and busts into the title track. ?A Grand Don't Come For Free? isn't really a song, but more of a story which is, no surprise, about Mike losing £100 in his apartment. It is sort of unclear why, but someone may have stolen it, and I am not quite sure what he was going to do with it, but I can only imagine. Poor Mike with his bad luck.

The next song is about women, another favorite subject of Skinner. A soothing beat and a piano with a catchy chorus makes this song one of the best on the album. Yet another brief mention about his lost money is made.

?Not Addicted? is a much more lively song about Mike's gambling addiction with football. ?This time I know I woulda cashed a lot / I woulda held in my hand the whole jackpot? Mike says as he's a surefire winner. True to Skinner form however, ?But I won't win now / my chance flopped / Cause I couldn't make it to the damn shop? All is well, in this case, because his team lost anyway. There is hope.

The disc continues to sing about topics that middle class bad boys, Brits and Americans, can easily relate to. There really isn't any new ground broken on the album, picking right up where Original Pirate Material left off; Getting fucked up, watching TV, and questioning why life is so rough sometimes are again the themes throughout. But unlike Original Pirate Material, A Grand seems to be more of a soap opera than just bullying around town with your boys.

?Blinded By The Lights? is another stand out song. Thereis a female vocal chorus as Mike documents taking one too many at the club and cannot find anyone he knows. We may have all been there (I have anyway). The very descriptive nature of The Streets' lyrics have always struck me as very honest and humbling, and I can really picture myself in his situation. He's just a normal kid who doesn't ride in the fast cars, count his money, and get with all the fly girls, and there is no ?bling,? which is very refreshing in this Jay-Z infested world we live in.

The first single off the disc is ?Fit But You Know It.? It's easily the most likeable on the disc, seeing a very sexy girl, and trying to play it off as she's coming over to you, only to go right by ?into the arms of that fucking white shirted man.? Sorry again Mike!

As the disc winds down, I found myself hoping for a song like ?Stay Positive,? the last song on Original Pirate Material. It's a song about friends and tough times, and how you have to pick yourself and keep going. And there it was, ?Dry Your Eyes? is a bout a girl leaving a guy and he then realizes that life sucks but you must carry on.

The last song on the disc was the most surprising. After 10 songs of Mike losing £1000, getting too fucked up, being cheated on by his girlfriend with one of his own friends, and then left alone, something wonderful happens.

?Empty Cans? is the finale, when I found myself routing for anything good to happen to this poor guy. When his friend finally decides to be a nice guy and help him fix his TV it makes everything better, in more ways than one. It's rare that a hip-hop artist can tell a coherent story through 11 songs but Mike has done it wonderfully.

Its not worth a Grammy vote, but A Grand Don't Come For Free is a fine follow-up to Original Pirate Material, and anyone that enjoyed that disc will eat this up. 11 songs with entertaining lyrics, a variety of head bobbing beats, and that frisky attitude of one punk Brit kid who doesn't give a fuck, but really does.