by Garrett Lyons
Music Staff @ 88.3 FM WSBU

Plan B Who Needs Actions When You Got Words (Warner Brothers)

This is what hip hop should be. Plan B melds solid beats with rapid-fire rhymes that have a social conscience beyond any American artist. Plan B attacks everything from the youth to teenage sluts to American pop culture. With obscure references to Top of The Pops and Basement Jaxx, Plan B can only be a Londoner. He’s a Brit-hop artist without the hideous cockney accent that hides the brilliance of other artists. This guy is for real. There is no pretense about him. This is authentic hip hop with mellow acoustic guitar backing music that accentuates the lyrics. Plan B doesn’t have the glamour of The Streets or the tabloid rap sheet of Lily Allen or the sheer ghetto bling attitude of Lady Sovereign. He has pure, heartfelt vocals over unassuming music. I hate hip-hop, but I love Plan B. This 23-year-old is the next generation of hip hop. He takes the simplicity of early rap groups like Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five and Afrika Bambaataa and puts it together with brilliant lyrics. This is perfect for those of you sick of the bullshit music that MTV and BET put on the airwaves.

Recommended If You Like: Dizzee Rascal, The Streets, Eminem, Lab Rats

Recommended Tracks:
Track 6 – Charmaine
Track 1 – Kidz
Track 7 – I Don’t Hate You
Track 10 – Where Ya From