Plan B (rapper)

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Plan B
Ben Drew AKA Plan B
Ben Drew AKA Plan B
Background information
Birth name Ben Drew
Born 1983
Origin Flag of England Forest Gate, East London, England
Genre(s) Hip Hop, A cappella, Acoustic, Grime
Years active 2005 – present
Label(s) Pet Cemetery Recordings (2005, 2008)[1]
679 Recordings
(2005-present)
Cordless Recordings
(2007-present)
Website Plan B Official Site

Plan B (real name Ben Drew, b. 1984) is an orthodox Christian English rapper from Forest Gate, East London.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Plan B was raised and currently resides in Forest Gate, East London. From the age of 11 Plan B attended Anglo European School in Ingatestone, Essex,before transferring to Tom Hood School in Leytonstone, London. He is signed to 679 Recordings, home to fellow UK rapper The Streets. His unique sound is characterised by his use of acoustic beats and lyrics involving drugs, rape, murder and underage sex. He was placed fourth in the BBC's "Sound of 2006" competition.

Plan B's controversial lyrical content delivered against melodic guitar strumming has seen him dubbed "The British Eminem", or "Eminem meets Louisa Lawrie Damien Rice", but he says he is "just telling a story" and that he is "just trying to portray something that's real that happens in everyday life". These stories are largely semi-fictional but include personal content as well. Inspired by the murder of 10-year-old Damilola Taylor, Plan B tells the story of a 14-year-old who kills, rapes and orders people to "hand over your money, your phone and your Pokémon cards". Drew points out, in a possibly subtle jibe at American rappers, that his life growing up is not interesting enough to write songs about, so he takes on characters in his songs to make interesting and, hopefully, thought-provoking music.

[edit] Who Needs Actions When You Got Words

The Prodigy's "No Good (Start The Dance)", and the second A-side, "Sick 2 Def", was an acoustic track. The music video, for "No Good", was his first music video and employed the techniques of stop-motion animation. An acoustic version of the single "Kidz" appeared as a bonus track on the soundtrack to the UK box office film Kidulthood.

In April 2006, he released a video only download single, Missing Links. The song had to be re-recorded because the original version sampled Pyramid Song by Radiohead and two days before the NME Awards, he still had not gained permission to use the instrumental and thus had to write a new backing track in two days. The new version goes in the opposite direction of the previous electric sound, now using simply an acoustic guitar, a cello and drums.

His debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words was released on 26 June 2006. The title was taken from the lyrics to a Meat Puppets song, covered by Nirvana for their MTV Unplugged in New York album. Drew cites Kurt Cobain as one of his heroes and also states that the phrase should help make people realise that his songs are meant to be taken as words and not meant to incite action.

Plan B appeared on Later with Jools Holland on June 23, 2006, where he performed his first full single release "Mama (Loves A Crackhead)", which was released on July 10, 2006, peaking at #41 in the UK singles chart.

The instrumental version to "Mama (Loves A Crackhead)" is used on promotional clips on BBC Radio 1 to advertise the BBC's coverage of live cricket.

[edit] The Next Album

Although details are sketchy, Plan B highlighted the matter in the 14th October 2006 issue of NME. From the interview, Plan B Said "I've started this project about a drug addict called David Frost - no relation to the guy on TV - and basically it's the story of this guy and the levels of addiction, rehab, rehab not working, robbing...The trials and tribulations of a fucking smackhead. It's a big story. I might release a first edition, then a second edition...". Meanwhile, Plan B releases new material through his myspace profile, such as remixes and acoustic versions of previous tracks that won't be on the new album, just exclusive for myspace or the Paint It Blacker mixtape.

[edit] Other Projects

Plan B has also expressed an interest in getting involved in film projects saying, in an interview about Who Needs Actions When You Got Words "We’re still promoting this album and I’ve started work on the next one, but I’m really getting into film at the moment. I’m writing this script, and I really want to find some time to focus on it, I really feel that’s what I’m destined to be doing”[2]. Plan B is set to star in AdULTHOOD . This is the sequal to KiDULTHOOD . It is a movie which is set to be released in 2008.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

Year Album Chart Positions
UK Albums Chart
2006 Who Needs Actions When You Got Words #30

[edit] Mixtapes

Year Title Distribution
2006 It's Time 4 Plan B Hip Hop Connection
2007 Paint it Blacker Live Events

[edit] EPs

Year Title Album
2006 "Live At The Pet Cemetery" Who Needs Actions When You Got Words

[edit] Singles

[edit] Physical Singles

Year Title Chart Positions Album
UK Singles Chart
2005 "Kidz" / "Dead And Buried" Produced by Fraser T Smith / Plan B
(Limited edition 7" Vinyl single only)		 - Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
2005 "No Good" / "Sick 2 Def"
(7" Vinyl single only)		 - Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
2006 "Mama (Loves A Crackhead)" #41 Who Needs Actions When You Got Words
2007 "No Good"
(12" Vinyl single only)		 - Who Needs Actions When You Got Words

[edit] Download Singles

Year Title Album
2006 "Missing Links" Who Needs Actions When You Got Words

[edit] References

  1. ^ MySpace.com - Pet Cemetery Recordings - UK - Hip Hop / Acoustique / A'cappella - www.myspace.com/petcemeteryrecordingsinc
  2. ^ Plan B interviewed by CMU's Chris Cooke CMU Beats