Mike Skinner, A.K.A. the Streets, has made the unlikely genre of British rap seem essential — a neat trick, since his "flow" hardly dazzles like Jay-Z's. But with working-bloke wit and a love of simple hooks, he's made magic on records about stoned clubbing, failed courtships, petty crime and pop stardom. On his fourth set, he addresses loftier themes — religion, mortality, ecology — without sounding dorky; it's like he's been woodshedding with Obama's speechwriting team. "I came to this world with nothing/And I'll leave with nothing but love," he muses on the title cut. The music echoes that ambition, full of cinematic strings and choral arrangements; the MC even adds a concertina. (Take that, beatboxers!) Skinner's still wrestling his party-animal dark side ("Heaven for the Weather") and trying to get laid ("Never Give In"). But his vivid introspection recalls rap forefather Rakim, whose mind power and love of fish are echoed on "The Escapist," a lush soul jam about thinking your way past barriers. It's English lit for the hoodie set.