Interview - Plan B: Rapper's new plan is to be a soul man

FEW recording artists have undergone as radical a shift in musical style as East End lad Ben Drew, better known by his alias Plan B.

His critically-lauded 2006 debut Who Needs Actions When You Got Words was a furious, foul-mouthed rap record which related shockingly dark urban tales of violence, drug-use and perversion – and led to him being labelled "the British Eminem".

But Drew's new album The Defamation of Strickland Banks is, by contrast, an extremely vibrant soul record, soaked in classic 60s influences and alive with funk and sass. Drew now sings his lyrics – doing an excellent job into the bargain – and he's taken to wearing sharp suits rather than the hoodies of old.

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Perhaps more remarkably, he's completely open about the fact that his decision to change style was simply down to market pressures. After the sales of his debut failed to match the critical praise, he made up his mind to try a different approach.

"I learned that a major label couldn't market my hip-hop," he explains. "It took four years to break-even on the last record. My lyrics were coarse, the themes were really dark, and a lot of doors got slammed in my face. Radio stations wouldn't play me. Glastonbury wouldn't book me.

"I knew that if I went and made a second record that was exactly like the first one it would only sell 50,000 and I'd get dropped. If I was going to make the same sort of record, I would have been better walking away and doing it independently.

"I had an opportunity to make a record that got radio play, and become successful, and I knew that when I had success I could do exactly what I wanted.

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"But I wasn't going to sell out and do pop. I just thought I'd make a completely different style

of music."

Considering this move into soul really is Plan B for the 26-year-old, it's astonishing just how splendid the results are. The songs are well-crafted, the backing is luscious, the production is superb and Drew, showing off his previously hidden singing talents, is in fine voice. Indeed, his smooth high-pitched vocals, bordering on falsetto, are something of a revelation.

The initial signs are that it will go down well with the general public, too. The first single off the album – the Gnarls Barkley-esque Stay Too Long – reached number nine in the singles chart in January, giving Plan B his biggest hit yet.

It seems the Londoner – who will soon showcase his new material at The Cockpit in Leeds – is finally set for the mainstream success he's been banking on.

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But Drew, who actually started out writing and performing R&B songs as a teenager, insists that the transition into soul was in no way an awkward one.

"I was actually making this style of music before I started rapping," he says. "I knew that if I really went for it, it would work. The album will keep me signed to a major label, but I enjoyed making it so much. It felt so real and honest. I didn't feel I was compromising my integrity. I loved it. Anyway, to me the most important thing isn't the style. The most important thing is the story."

Indeed, story-telling is exactly what Plan B is all about. Who Needs Actions When You Got Words was essentially a collection of short stories put to music, and the new record is a concept album in the truest sense, relating the fictional tale of Strickland Banks – a famous soul singer who is falsely imprisoned for a crime he didn't commit. Track-by-track it chronicles his journey from stage star to inmate and his subsequent fight for survival in jail.

Drew has also been venturing into the world of film. As well as writing songs for the soundtracks to British films Adulthood, Shifty and Harry Brown, he had supporting acting roles in the latter two movies and has directed a short film, entitled Michelle, and a film to accompany the Strickland Banks album. He's currently working on directing his first feature – entitled Ill Manors.

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"I've always wanted to be in films," says Drew. "I'd written this big feature and I wanted to direct it, but I've had to compromise – making a short film to show people I can direct. The long-term aim is to make a massive gangster film. I think 2011 will be the year where I can do some of the projects I really want to do. That's when people will rate me enough to back me.

"People have said I'm 'the young Michael Caine', which is great. I worked with him on Harry Brown and I watched, listened and learned. At the premiere he came up to me, shook my hand and complimented me on the song I'd done for the end credits. That meant more to me than anything else. It made everything I'd done worthwhile."

Plan B is at The Cockpit in Leeds on April 14. His album The Defamation Of Strickland Banks is released on Apr 12.

Plan B – the story so far

Born and brought up in Forest Gate, East London, Ben Drew's mother

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worked for a local authority and his father played in a local punk rock band.

Under the name Plan B, he released his critically-acclaimed dbut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006. His first top ten single

was as the featured artist on End Credits by Chase & Status.

He has also been successful as an actor with supporting roles in Adulthood and Harry Brown and he has also directed

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and starred in his own film The Defamation of Strickland Banks which

will be released in 2010 along with his second

studio album of the same name.

Most recently he supported Noel Gallagher at the second night of his solo gigs at The Royal Albert Hall.

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