The Streets -- UK's best rap artist

Like most people, I've found the new album by The Streets to be of the annoying "how difficult fame is" variety. But this interview with Mike Skinner reminds me how smart and interesting he is. And presumably others have said this before, but Skinner's comments on maintaining a long-term career are spot-on:

It’s a matter of replacing creativity with skill,” Skinner reckons. “That’s what all artists with longevity do. They start off with that initial explosion of talent, and then they gradually learn to apply the skills they’ve learnt.” This accounts for his current fascination with country music. “

In songwriting terms you can learn a lot from country music songs. People laugh at Kenny Rogers, but everyone can take something from a lyric like The Gambler or Coward of the County.”