Mike Skinner grew up in Birmingham and North London. From the ages of 15 to 19 he worked to finance his forays into garage/ 2 step music, and by 20 had released a first single, Has It Come To This, on Locked On records – home at the time to Artful Dodger and Craig David. March 2002 saw the release of a debut album, Original Pirate Material. Its social-savvy themes and clever rhymes marked it out from the rest of party-heavy UK garage/ r&b enough to ensure a US release and it sold over a million copies worldwide. Skinner’s follow-up album, A Grand Don’t Come For Free (May 2004), has so far generated two singles - Fit But You Know It (April 2004), and Blinded By The Lights (Sept 2004).