PLAN B“Three years ago he was a hoodie-clad rapper – now Plan B is living up to his name and

changing tack. But is his soul-boy reinvention a dangerous game.”

INTRODUCTION…•Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew (born 22 October 1983), primarily known as Plan B or Ben Drew,

is a British rapper, singer-songwriter, actor and film director from Forest Gate, London.

• Plan B first emerged as a hip hop artist releasing his critically acclaimed début album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006. His second studio album The Defamation of Strickland Banks (2010) was a soul record and went straight into the UK album chart at no. 1.

•He has also collaborated with other artists such as Chase & Status most notably on the top ten single "End Credits" (2009).

•Drew has also had a successful film career as an actor, with roles in Adulthood (2008), Harry Brown (2009) and 4.3.2.1 (2010). In 2011, he will release Ill Manors, his first film as a director.

Ben Drew in ‘Adulthood’ 2008

“I mean, the reason I decided to call myself ‘Plan B’ in the first

place was because originally I was a soul singer and then I changed

my style to hip hop”

From his debut album in 2005, ‘who needs actions when you’ve got words’, Plan b has changed from producing hip-hop, rap records to soul music inspired by the likes of Amy Winehouse and Smokey Robinson, on

his second album called ‘The defamation of Strickland banks’, which was released in 2010 and is a concept album surrounding the life of a

fictional character, ‘Strickland Banks’.

Plan b hasn’t relied on using close-ups of his face on his cover, and instead has used the concept of

the album to sell his music.

ALBUMS…

Plan b’s debut album in 2005, ‘Who needs actions when you got words’

The album cover from his first album depicts and suggests a rough life, signifying to listeners the musical content.

Plan B’s second album,' The Defamation of Strickland Bank’s’ cover differs, as it portrays an alot more refined person from what he’s wearing, and it focuses on a fictional character, ‘Strickland Banks’. By having the album title in a banner often seen used to advertise bands/artists at the location of their upcoming gig, suggests the musical content being about this character’s life in the limelight.

So both album covers suggest the differing musical content of the albums, and represent Plan B’s change in image.

Like Plan B’s debut album cover, this one focuses on the concept not Plan B himself, and uses the content of the album to sell itself.

Plan B’s second album from 2010, ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’

Lyrically the album's songs tell the fictitious tale of one Strickland Banks, a sharp-suited British soul singer who finds fame with bitter-sweet love songs like the album's opener "Love Goes Down", but then loses everything when he ends up in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

VIDEOS…

His videos accompanying his debut album, all depict a narrative, which is the same as the videos on his second album, however the main difference is how he

represents himself. In videos like ‘No more eatin’, or ‘Mama’, (from his debut) he represents himself as the stereotypical ‘hoodie’, appearing in tracksuits

and rapping about his rough up-bringing around his hometown of Forest Gates.

Compare this to his second album, where in videos like ‘Prayin’, we see him performing more, with a bigger cast of dancers and

singers. Instead of wearing tracksuits, he has refined his image by wearing formal suits- even when he performs live, in order to capture the essence this fictional character ‘Strickland

Banks’. 2006: 2010:

http://'Mama' 2006

‘Mama (loves a crackhead)’ is a performance/narrative video, telling a story based on Plan B’s mother’s relationship with her ‘crackhead’ boyfriend. It begins like a film, as we see him arguing with his mum’s

boyfriend, and develops from there.

‘Mama (loves a crackhead) 2006, from ‘Who needs actions when you got words’

http://'Stay too Long' 2010

‘Stay too Long’ is also a performance/narrative video, however Plan B makes use of a big cast of dancers, back-up singers and shows the

band. Along with Plan B’s other videos from his second album, this one is set in the 60’s, and it tells us the story of the night after ‘Strickland

Banks’ has just performed at one of his concerts.

‘Stay too Long’ 2010 from, ‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’

How successful were both albums?‘The Defamation of Strickland Banks’ has been more commercially successful than his debut, reaching number 1 in the album charts, and has achieved a

combination of a number 1 single with ‘She said’ and a number 3 with ‘Stay too Long’.

The album reached and peaked at #30 in the UK album chart when it was released in June 2006.

‘Who needs actions when you got words’

Q magazine rated the album 64th in their 100 Best Albums of 2006.

“The critics tended to compare this work with Plan B's previous album, Who Needs Actions When You Got Words, from four years earlier. The

change from "spectacularly violent soliloquies" on his debut to crooning soul on his second effort caught some reviewers by surprise, though not

all unhappily”

‘The defamation of Strickland Banks’ The album debuted on the UK Albums Chart at

No. 1, selling 68,173 copies in its first week