(part of T on the Fringe)
Arriving on stage wearing a t shirt with the words ‘You Cunt’ emblazoned on the front, you just knew this Plan B show was going to be provocative and emotive.
The packed Liquid Room crowd were treated to an hour’s worth of obscenity-filled material, mostly derived from his debut album ‘Who Needs Actions When You Got Words’.
Portraying the archetypal East London yoof, Plan B’s lyrics are full of anger, attitude and aggression, but it’s just a pity his subject matter isn’t as varied as fellow white rappers Mike Skinner and Marshall Mathers.
Much in the same way Punk was when it first evolved, Hip-Hop and Rap was initially a politically driven genre, but Plan B (real name Ben Drew) focuses his visceral, urban lyrics on what he knows best; street violence, teenage pregnancies, errant fathers and smoking spliff.
‘Kidz’ and ‘Mama (Loves A Crackhead)’, which cleverly incorporates the chorus from Hall and Oates’ ‘I Can’t Go For That’, were included in an impressive opening, but the set seemed to sag midway until he gave us a rocking version of the Roots Manuva song, ‘Witness (1 Hope)’.
At times, his rhyming seems banal (‘`complexion’` and ‘`erection’` from ‘Charmaine’, and ‘`beefing’` and ‘`Libran’` from ‘Who Needs Actions…’) but, in the end, his youthful passion pulls him through. Just about.
His band, which gives the whole Plan B sound a beefier personality, included a bassist, a decks/sampler man and the superb drumming talent of Cassell ‘The Beatmaker’.
Hopefully, Plan B’s lyrical substance will progress with maturity and he’ll move away from the council estate politics to include more geo-political subject matter. I mean, there’s only so many songs you can stand and listen to about crackheads and stabbings.
But, I suppose that’s the mentality of kidz today. (Alex Lawrie)
