Let’s talk about embarrassment for a minute. Earlier this year, UK rapper Plan B (legally, Ben Drew) released a concept soul album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks. Recently, he was all set to go back to good ol’ fashioned hip-hop with The Ballad of Belmarsh: a “version of events” from the perspective of Strickland. This time, however, his label 649 Recordings shot him down and denied it a release. I guess the label prefers abstinence to Plan B.
Gotta hurt, right? But Plan B is dealing with it (that’s the nature of Plan B, after all) and has released the album on his own. “I know The Ballad of Belmarsh is not going to work commercially,” he says. “I know radio ain’t going to play it but I’m still going to put it out there because I love it. It’s a piece of art.” You tell ‘em, Ben Drew. Keep it real for all those young, pregnant, and scared.
• Plan B: http://www.time4planb.co.uk
