# Plan B (musician)
**Plan B** is the stage name of **Ben Drew** (born 1983), an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and film director from [Forest Gate](https://www.edgepedia.org/forest-gate), east London, whose full name is Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2304008/bio/) • [2](https://www.liverate.com/artists/plan-b). He first came to notice as an acoustic-guitar-wielding rapper with the 2006 debut album *Who Needs Actions When You Got Words*, then reinvented himself as a retro-soul singer on *The Defamation of Strickland Banks* (2010), a UK number-one album that sold over a million copies[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/plan-b-i-ain-t-no-gangster-6097373.html) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/plan-b-02-arena-london-2240882.html). In 2012 he wrote and directed the film *Ill Manors* and released an accompanying album, and he returned in 2018 with *Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose*[5](https://www.vice.com/en/article/plan-b-ben-drew-interview-new-album-release-2018/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name | Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew, born 1983, Forest Gate, London[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2304008/bio/) • [2](https://www.liverate.com/artists/plan-b) |
| Debut album | *Who Needs Actions When You Got Words* (679, 2006), acoustic guitar paired with violent, character-driven rap[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/plan-b-i-ain-t-no-gangster-6097373.html) |
| Breakthrough | *The Defamation of Strickland Banks* (2010), a soul concept album that reached No 1 in the UK and sold over a million records[4](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/plan-b-02-arena-london-2240882.html) |
| Film work | Wrote and directed *Ill Manors* (2012), made for £100,000, half funded by Film London's Microwave scheme and shot in 18 days[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview) |
| Fourth album | *Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose*, released May 4, 2018 after a six-year break from music[5](https://www.vice.com/en/article/plan-b-ben-drew-interview-new-album-release-2018/) |
| Recognition | Ivor Novello songwriter of the year, 2011[7](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2012/2012-02-18-Music%20Week.pdf) |
| Charity | Founded the Each One Teach One trust in east London in 2013 to help disadvantaged 14 to 25-year-olds[8](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/28/plan-b-each-one-teach-one) |
## Early life and the name
Drew grew up in Forest Gate, east London, one of two children in a single-parent family. He did not fit in at school, was often in trouble, and was expelled at 15 for throwing a chair, after which he attended a pupil referral unit, a setting he later credited with giving him support and encouragement to develop creatively[9](https://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/qa-special-musician-ben-drew-aka-plan-b) • [10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/this-is-plan-b-how-has-pop-s-angry-young-man-suddenly-turned-into-a-blueeyed-soul-smoothy-1922860.html).
The stage name records his own account of his ambitions. He wanted to be a soul singer but felt self-conscious singing love songs, so his plan B was to try rapping, hence the name[11](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jun/07/plan-b-love-directing-art-lives). In a 2010 interview he put it the same way: "When I started out, I was singing soul and R&B; it was rap that was my plan B"[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview). His first song under the name was "Kidz", inspired by the murder of [Damilola Taylor](https://www.edgepedia.org/killing-of-damilola-taylor), in which he adopted the voice of a teenage killer[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/plan-b-i-ain-t-no-gangster-6097373.html) • [10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/this-is-plan-b-how-has-pop-s-angry-young-man-suddenly-turned-into-a-blueeyed-soul-smoothy-1922860.html).
## Who Needs Actions When You Got Words (2006)
The debut album, released on 679 in June 2006, paired acoustic guitar with a simple beat and expletive-laden, hyper-realistic vignettes about underage sex, crack addiction, and gun crime[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/plan-b-i-ain-t-no-gangster-6097373.html) • [10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/this-is-plan-b-how-has-pop-s-angry-young-man-suddenly-turned-into-a-blueeyed-soul-smoothy-1922860.html). Critics were divided over whether the songs glamorized violence; Drew insisted they were social commentary and cautionary tales, saying he wanted to "show them the reality of gun crime, drugs and gangsters"[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/plan-b-i-ain-t-no-gangster-6097373.html). Despite wide critical acclaim, the album disappeared from the charts after one week[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/this-is-plan-b-how-has-pop-s-angry-young-man-suddenly-turned-into-a-blueeyed-soul-smoothy-1922860.html).
## The Defamation of Strickland Banks (2010)
The second album was a concept record about a fictional soul singer, Strickland Banks, who is falsely convicted of raping a fan and imprisoned, sung largely in a falsetto Drew described as [Smokey Robinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/smokey-robinson)-style[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview). Drew had originally recorded a double album, one soul disc and one hip-hop disc telling the same story; his label boss at 679, newly taken over by Atlantic, refused to promote the hip-hop record, so the two made a deal in which the soul album was released and Drew kept the rights to the rap tracks[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview).
The gamble paid off commercially. "Stay Too Long" hit the UK top 10 in January 2010, "She Said" was A-listed by Radio 1, and the album reached No 1 in the UK charts and sold over a million records, becoming the fifth best-selling album of the year in the UK[10](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/this-is-plan-b-how-has-pop-s-angry-young-man-suddenly-turned-into-a-blueeyed-soul-smoothy-1922860.html) • [4](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/plan-b-02-arena-london-2240882.html) • [12](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/plan-b-mn0000636750). Some hardcore hip-hop fans accused him of selling out, an accusation he rejected, arguing that lyrically the album still dealt with the same real-life material as his rap[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview).
## Ill Manors (2012)
Drew had acted in [Noel Clarke](https://www.edgepedia.org/noel-clarke)'s *Adulthood* (2008) and the [Michael Caine](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-caine) film *Harry Brown* (2009), playing small-time crooks in both[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview). The commercial success of *Strickland Banks* gave him the standing to direct his debut feature, *Ill Manors*, a series of six vignettes of London street life[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview). Film London's Microwave scheme put up half of the £100,000 budget, Drew funded the rest himself, and [Microwave](https://www.edgepedia.org/microwave) required all filming to be completed within 18 days[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview). He cast non-actors, including pupils from the pupil referral unit he had attended[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview).
The accompanying album, also called *Ill Manors*, was released on Atlantic in July 2012. Drew insisted it was a separate album in its own right rather than a soundtrack, though dialogue from the film runs through the tracks[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-plan-b-ill-manors-atlantic-7939013.html). The title track, with its references to "little rich boys" and an Olympic village built nearby while local community centers closed, was widely praised as a protest song; one Guardian writer called it the first great mainstream British protest song in years[13](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-plan-b-ill-manors-atlantic-7939013.html) • [14](https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/mar/15/plan-b-ill-manors).
## Later career and charity work
A planned third album, *The Ballad of Belmarsh*, a hip-hop record continuing the Strickland Banks story, was announced for 2011 but never saw release; by 2017 Drew said of a similar concept project, "I know radio ain't gonna play it"[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview) • [15](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/26/time-for-a-new-plan-b-puppets-politics-and-parenthood). In 2013 he launched Each One Teach One, an east London trust linking projects that give disadvantaged 14 to 25-year-olds skills, money, and advice, describing it as "a university of alternative learning"[8](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/28/plan-b-each-one-teach-one).
After a six-year break from music, he released his fourth album, *Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose*, on May 4, 2018, a record he said reflected the birth of his daughter and a period of personal stability[5](https://www.vice.com/en/article/plan-b-ben-drew-interview-new-album-release-2018/) • [15](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/26/time-for-a-new-plan-b-puppets-politics-and-parenthood). He promoted it with a 2018 UK tour that critics received well, including a return performance staged at [Shakespeare's Globe](https://www.edgepedia.org/shakespeares-globe) in 2017[2](https://www.liverate.com/artists/plan-b).
## References
1. [Plan B – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2304008/bio/)
2. [Plan B – Live Tour & Concert Review Consensus, LiveRate](https://www.liverate.com/artists/plan-b)
3. [Plan B: 'I ain't no gangster', The Independent (23 June 2006)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/plan-b-i-ain-t-no-gangster-6097373.html)
4. [Plan B, O2 Arena, London, The Independent (13 March 2011)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/plan-b-02-arena-london-2240882.html)
5. ['Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose': A Candid Conversation With Plan B, Vice (4 May 2018)](https://www.vice.com/en/article/plan-b-ben-drew-interview-new-album-release-2018/)
6. [Plan B: 'Strickland Banks may be soul, but it's still real life', The Guardian (16 December 2010)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2010/dec/16/plan-b-strickland-banks-interview)
7. [Music Week, 18 February 2012](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/UK/Music-Week/2012/2012-02-18-Music%20Week.pdf)
8. [Rapper, hit film-maker … now Plan B turns to helping marginalised youths, The Guardian (27 April 2013)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/apr/28/plan-b-each-one-teach-one)
9. [Q&A Special: Musician Ben Drew, aka Plan B, The Arts Desk (12 April 2010)](https://www.theartsdesk.com/new-music/qa-special-musician-ben-drew-aka-plan-b)
10. [This is Plan B: How has pop's angry young man suddenly turned into a blue-eyed soul smoothy?, The Independent (21 March 2010)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/features/this-is-plan-b-how-has-pop-s-angry-young-man-suddenly-turned-into-a-blueeyed-soul-smoothy-1922860.html)
11. [Plan B: 'I love directing. But does my art change lives? I don't think it does', The Guardian (7 June 2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jun/07/plan-b-love-directing-art-lives)
12. [Plan B – Biography, Discography, Albums & Expert Reviews, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/plan-b-mn0000636750)
13. [Album: Plan B, Ill Manors (Atlantic), The Independent (12 July 2012)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-plan-b-ill-manors-atlantic-7939013.html)
14. [Why Plan B's Ill Manors is the greatest British protest song in years, The Guardian (15 March 2012)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2012/mar/15/plan-b-ill-manors)
15. [Time for a new Plan B: puppets, politics and parenthood, The Guardian (26 May 2017)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/may/26/time-for-a-new-plan-b-puppets-politics-and-parenthood)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Music scenes › Transnational genre scenes › Hip hop scenes worldwide › Artists, groups, and people: Hip hop scenes worldwide › United Kingdom rap (grime, drill, road rap, boom bap)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license