"When You Wasn't Famous" is a single by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner under the music project The Streets. It is the first single from their third studio album, '' The Hardest Way to Make an Easy Living''. Released on 30 March 2006, it went straight to number 8 in the UK and number 26 in Ireland. The song's chorus is about how Skinner finds it easier to have sexual relations with non-famous women now that he's famous, but how things are just like they used to be when attempts to sleep with a similarly famous woman. The song's verses recount Skinner's unsuccessful attempt to seduce a female pop star. The lyrics are purportedly autobiographical, but Skinner has never confirmed the identity of the pop star (who at one point is described "smok ng crack") in question. He has, however, categorically denied rumours that it is Cheryl Cole or Rachel Stevens. The song contains the lyric "Considering the amount of

prang Prang may refer to: Places * Prang, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a town of Charsadda District, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan * Prang Besar, an old name for Putrajaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malayasia * Prang Ghar Tehsil or Pran Ghar Subdivision, a subdivis ...

you've done, you looked amazing on CD:UK" and a reference to

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

's children's appeal.''The Word'', Issue 39, May 2006 The reference to the television show CD:UK in the song is quite notable because the show was axed just two days after "When You Wasn't Famous"' was released. The video features Mike Skinner as a patient at a celebrity detox clinic, trying to avoid exposure by the paparazzi. An alternative video was made featuring a remix of the song by

Professor Green Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London. Growing up on ...

. The original video was released on the DVD for the 2007 Brit Awards whilst the Professor Green remixed version was included on the DVD single for the following release Never Went to Church. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the 7" was a cover of the track by Bromheads Jacket.

Charts

References

{{The Streets 2005 songs 2006 singles The Streets songs 679 Artists singles