The Streets - Skinner: 'Record Deal Was Like Prison Stretch'

The star shot to fame in 2002 with the release of The Streets' debut album Original Pirate Material and he has just released his fifth and final record, Computers and Blues.

Skinner recently admitted he would have happily ended his deal with Warners in 2006 but legal reasons prevented him from doing so - and he's ecstatic his commitment to the record label is almost over.

He tells Britain's The Sun, "It's like ending a long prison stretch. I'm leaving in 11 weeks, when my contract ends. I'll be given my belongings and met at the gates by my criminal friends and we'll go out and re-offend within days. I'm not going to do The Streets any more, I'm never going to be able to better this album. And that's a great feeling.

"There comes a time when you've had so much success, you've got so much money, there's so much madness, you tend to end up destroying yourself.

"I'm relieved I won't have to play that game anymore. I'm relieved to be outside of the traditional album cycle. I can do what I want now."