MUSICIANS develop their work. Encouraging their style over time. Some artists stick to their pattern throughout their career. Little changes to break the boredom perhaps but sticking to a path or a formula for them that works. Others change, mature or go with the times. Or even go into directions others haven’t yet taken. Madonna initially springing to mind. Taking a different tangent to her work enabling it to be be fresher, occassionally provocative or controversial. Something new and intriguing. She has managed to work her whole career around these changes and has done very well out of it. Some artists have gone from the light to the dark. For one to come from the dark and out into the light? Well don’t be fooled that this has happened to Plan B.
Ben Drew performing under the title of Plan B, is one of the darkest Hip-Hop and Grime artists over the last few years who released his debut Who Needs Actions When You Have Words to an underground crowd who welcomed the rhythmical artistic poetry of grim crimes, illegal goings-on and the sordid areas of life which some of us care to be ignorant about when wearing the headphones. The Marshall Mathers EP is an example. The album was lyrically well written to great acclaim by many a producer. No more so than Chase & Status who invited him to do a track or two which is when he caught my attention. I thought he sang well on many a level. A rap star who can sing a tune? Now THEY DON’T come about very often.
Plan B has managed to create an album which has all the traits from an excellent hip-Hop record but the big band sound, the pianos, the acoustic guitars are not that new. The main difference I noticed on this are the greater resemblances to the 60′s Soul and Motown sound. That takes a greater amount of maturity to pull off. His vocal talents bounce between the Brixton Grime and a likeness to The Temptations.
I think it’s fabulous.
Life is hard. That is a fact. It is one that some people have failed to realise. Ben Drew hasn’t and his music reflects that marvellously. Smart, soulful and honest.
Some tracks are harsher than others in lyrical anger but still, the stories being told are not so much of the grim realities of life, just a sign of a lesser amount of ignorance. Songs of truth if you like.
However, an interesting story is told through the album on different songs portrayed in the music videos which I have pasted for you below. This actually tells you the story of The Defamation Of Strickland Banks, which of course, is out now if you haven’t heard. From today it is the UK’s Number One Album. And quite rightly so.
