B-Bop-A Plan B

Plan B

Birmingham O2 Academy

words and pictures by James Watkins

The Birmingham O2 Academy played host to the wonders of the multi-talented Plan B as he brought his "Defamation of Strickland Banks" tour to the West Midlands.

Ben Drew, aka Plan B has had a busy time of late, conspiring against his hip-hop and dark rap roots to tune the nation to his new soul sound has been a gamble, but it's paid off.

Whilst still recording his rap music independently on his own label, he's managed to create a fanbase with his soulful new sound that promises chart success and arena-sized stardom.

Waltzing on stage dressed in gangster style attire of a fitted suit and shiny black shoes, Plan B tore up the place.

Opening with Writings On The Wall and livening the crowd with a stellar production of Praying, Plan B paraded around every inch of the stage like he a territorial tiger, while playing fan favourites Free and the stand-out Love Goes Down.

After a brief chat with the hyped-up fans, during which he declared it was his birthday, Plan B ended his 90-minute set with a soul-filled treat with eclectic dub covers of Stand By Me (Ben E. King), Aint No Sunshine (Bill Withers) and Kiss From A Rose (Seal) - performed with a mesmerising beatbox backing from FaithSFX.

The sartorially-elegant star returned with Stay Too Long to leave the crowd in awe at the freshest new direction from a UK artists for an extremely long time.