Birmingham's Mike Skinner, aka The Streets, has scooped the Best British Male Solo Act in this year's Brit awards.
Skinner, who began writing songs in his bedroom at his parents' Kings Norton semi as a teenager, has developed his idiosyncratic "geezer rap" about booze and birds into an urban art form.
The 26-year-old's first album, Original Pirate Material was critically acclaimed and nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, but he broke into the big time in 2004 with his second, A Grand Don't Come for Free.
In November he topped a poll in Q magazine to mark the best albums of the year.
It said of his latest effort: "It captured the country's mood in a way no one could have predicted. It went from cult classic to bestseller in no time."
