Original Pirate Material (2002)

Available as an import, this is due for U.S. release later this year. But why wait? The best British MC since Percy Bysshe Shelley (Slick Rick doesn't count), Mike Skinner is a middle-class kid from England's Midlands, complete with accent, plus the sort of wit and storytelling skill that American hip-hop is starved for. His nuanced tales of broken hearts, beat-downs, and brandy benders, laid over lushly lo-fi British garage beats, sound like no rap you've ever heard. RAVE RHYMES ''Weak Become Heroes'' is a tribute to ecstatic club culture after the drugs have worn off that'll bring a tear to even the reddest eye.