Plan B

Originally billed as the UK's answer to Enimem, Ben Drew emerged as an aggressive white rapper in the making in early 2005, spitting grim tales of council estate life while thrashing on an acoustic guitar. Teaching himself to play at the age of 14, he was soon penning smooth R&B love songs until, enraged by the plight of British society he turned to hip-hop to express his anger.

Taking the name Plan B, Drew created a dark cast of characters and told stories of rape, drug abuse and violence on his acclaimed debut album 'Who Needs Actions When You Got Words' in 2006, before turning his hand to acting and appearing in the British films 'Adulthood', 'Harry Brown' and '4.3.2.1'. His commercial breakthrough came when he returned with a groove-laden, Motown-inspired sound and the fictional character of Strictland Banks, a British soul singer who is wrongly imprisoned. Renowned as one of the best albums of the year, 'The Defamation of Strickland Banks' (2010) shot to number one in the UK charts and produced the hit singles 'Stay Too Long', 'She Said' and 'Prayin'', firmly establishing Plan B as one of Britain's brightest stars and winning him Q and Mojo Awards in 2010 and a BRIT in 2011.

In 2012 he released 'Ill Manors', a single that tackled the subject of the 2011 London riots; a film and soundtrack album of the same name followed. He released 'The Ballad of Belmarsh' in 2014 followed by 'Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose' in 2018. With the latter record, Plan B stated that he had taken a turn away from hip-hop as he didn't believe he still had the right to talk about such issues anymore as he now lives a different life.