Today, I’m opting for Plan B

I’m surprised Plan B hasn’t been across the blogs more than he has. Sure, his lyrics are distinctly British and his accent totally London, which could limit his international appeal, but then again the same is true of Lily Allen and she’s the queen of blogland. Not sure what it is, but I thought his white-rapper-with-acoustic-guitar schtick would have generated more interest. He does the whole urban squalour 'n' violence thing, but you get the impression that his claims to be 'real' are a wee bit more believable than other rappers. After all, can you imagine 50 Cent cutting a track about depression?

I’ve not got the East London boy’s new album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words, but what I’ve heard I quite like. The other week he dropped into Xfm to chat with John Kennedy about the album. The only problem was that it was the day of the release of said record, and he had been out on the lash all day celebrating. So it was an inebriated Ben Drew (for that is his name) that sat in the Xposure studio, trying to get his shit together in order to do a sensible interview and perform a couple of songs.

It definitely improved as time went on. At the start he was a bit flaky, reading out an almost inconceivably long text from his mate who had just got thrown out of rehab, and then managing to get through a version of Everyday (the aforementioned 'depression' track), which he drunkenly reworked to pay tribute to his troubled friend. But then, maybe the coffee kicked in, and by the time he came to perform his new single Mama (Loves a Crackhead) he was on top form. He can sing as well as rap y’know. And given that voice he could be in a boyband (if he dropped the swearing and the glottal stops). But maybe the popworld’s loss is our gain.

Download: Plan B - Everyday (live Xfm acoustic version)
Download: Plan B - Mama (Loves a Crackhead) (live Xfm acoustic version)

Buy Who Needs Actions When You Got Words from Amazon.