5 Things You Need to Know about EMA Performer Plan B

November 3rd, 2010

When the MTV EMAs hit your tv screens on Sunday, November 7 at 3pm ET on MuchMoreMusic, there is going to be a huge amount of buzz surrounding English singer, Plan B. He may be one of the hottest artists in Europe, but little is known about the singer/rapper across the pond. Here are five things you need to know before watching Plan B tear up the stage at the 2010 MTV EMAs this Sunday!

1. Not only is he a singer/rapper, he’s a successful actor.

Singer, rapper and actor, triple-threat Ben Drew has appeared in 2008’s Adulthood, 2009’s Harry Brown, and has two upcoming films. Additionally, he’s worked behind the camera as a director in a number of short films.

2. He started rapping because of Eminem.

At the age of 14 Drew started singing love songs, but thinking that this wasn’t an image people would be interested in, move towards rapping. The genre switch didn’t stick. Drew was a white youth from East Gate and didn’t have the street cred that was such a necessary evil in the rap game at the time. Then Eminem came along. Says Drew, “He was brilliant, he changed the whole game. He didn’t just influence white rappers, he influenced everyone. He showed that hip hop that didn’t have to be about the rings and the money and the hos.”

3. He has an alter-ego, Strickland Banks.

For his second album, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, Plan B created an alter-ego that was less aggressive than Drew and had a different fashion and music style. This gave Drew the freedom to sing and rap on the album, infusing his love of Motown into his alter-ego’s persona.

4. Plan B

Born Benjamin Paul Balance-Drew, the name Plan B came as a result of Drew not feeling like he fit in, whether it was growing up in an in-between class in Forest Gate, East London, or not feeling comfortable trying to fit the mold of other male pop singers, like Justin Timberlake.

5. He’s made four of the best videos of 2010.

I really can’t stress this enough. As part of his character-based alter-ego album The Defamation of Strickland Banks, Plan B tells the story of a singer who is accused of rape by an obsessed fan that he has an affair with. He is tried and found guilty, spends years in jail and is later released. The first four videos from the album, Stay Too Long, She Said, Prayin and The Recluse tell the story of Strickland Banks better than most feature length films.

Get all your info on the 2010 MTV EMAs right here and don’t forget to tune into MuchMoreMusic when the show goes down live, from Madrid, on Sunday, November 7 at 3pm ET!

Tags: 2010 MTV EMAs, mtv emas, Plan B