Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Four years after Plan B garnered notoriety, if not universal acclaim, with his debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words (2006), he switched styles from rap to soul on his follow-up effort, Defamation of Strickland Banks. Though it's distressing to hear yet another artist hop about the retro-stylized British soul-pop bandwagon, rapper-turned-singer Ben Drew nonetheless comes up with an impressive and fairly unique album that transcends the usual comparisons to Amy Winehouse vocally and Mark Ronson musically. For someone who cut his teeth as a rapper, he's not a bad singer at all. His vocals bear a striking resemblance to those of Smokey Robinson, which nicely complements the Motown-influenced musical style of the album. The production is credited in part to Paul Epworth, whose work with Bloc Party, Kate Nash, and Florence + the Machine has made him one of the United Kingdom's top hitmakers, and it's also credited in part to Drew himself. Kudos to these guys for coming up with a sharp soul-pop style that incorporates a variety of instrumentation, with drums, guitar, and strings at the forefront of each song. In addition to his soul crooning and production guidance, Drew occasionally breaks into rap, such as on the kinetic lead single, "Stay Too Long." The raps in particular give the album an edge lacking in myriad other British soul-pop albums flooding the market the past few years. Another characteristic that makes Defamation of Strickland Banks unique is that it's a concept album about a fictional character named Strickland Banks with Drew as an aspiring actor with an ability to bring the songs to life cinematically. Yet this is the least impressive aspect of the album. It made for good promotional videos in the case of "Stay Too Long," and the likewise stellar follow-up single, "She Said," but the overall plot of Defamation of Strickland Banks is thinly stretched and far less interesting than the songs themselves.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From $10.83/month
Louisa Fuller, Violin - Mark Rankin, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Ian Burdge, Cello - Everton Nelson, Violin - Plan B, Producer, Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Additional Production - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Harry Brown, Trombone - Sally Herbert, Violin - Bruce White, Viola - Warren Zielinski, Violin - Sonia Slany, Viola - Harry Escott, Cello - Mark Crown, Horn, Trumpet - Jason Yarde, Horn, Saxophone - Dave Priseman, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Zem Audu, Saxophone - Joe Bentley, Horn
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Mark Rankin, Engineer - Plan B, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Paul Epworth, Producer, Drums, MixingEngineer - Aleysha Gordon, Backing Vocals - Hannah Khemoh, Backing Vocals - Samantha Smith, Backing Vocals - Jodi Milliner, Bass
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Plan B, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2009 679 Recordings Ltd.
Louisa Fuller, Violin - Mark Rankin, Engineer - Ian Burdge, Cello - Everton Nelson, Violin - Plan B, Producer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist, MixingEngineer - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Additional Production, MixingEngineer - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Backing Vocals, Bass, MixingEngineer - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Harry Brown, Trombone - Sally Herbert, Violin - Bruce White, Viola - Warren Zielinski, Violin - Sonia Slany, Viola - Mark Crown, Horn, Trumpet - Jason Yarde, Horn, Saxophone - Dave Priseman, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Zem Audu, Saxophone - Joe Bentley, Horn
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Mark Rankin, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Plan B, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - Eric Appapoulay, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Paul Epworth, Producer - Aleysha Gordon, Backing Vocals - Hannah Khemoh, Backing Vocals - Mark Crown, Horn - Jason Yarde, Horn, Saxophone - Marvin Cottrell, Backing Vocals - Dave Priseman, Flugelhorn - Jennifer Dawodu, Backing Vocals - Joe Bentley, Horn
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Louisa Fuller, Violin - Mark Rankin, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Ian Burdge, Cello - Everton Nelson, Violin - Plan B, Producer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Additional Production - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Backing Vocals, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Sally Herbert, Violin - Bruce White, Viola - Warren Zielinski, Violin - Sonia Slany, Viola
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Mark Rankin, MixingEngineer - Plan B, Producer, Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Engineer - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Plan B, Producer, Engineer, Vocals, MainArtist, MixingEngineer - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Engineer, Additional Production, MixingEngineer - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Mark Rankin, Engineer - Wright, Composer - Plan B, Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - Eric Appapoulay, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Paul Epworth, Producer, MixingEngineer - Cassell, Composer - Appapoulay, Composer
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Louisa Fuller, Violin - Mark Rankin, MixingEngineer - Ian Burdge, Cello - Everton Nelson, Violin - Plan B, Producer, Engineer, Vocals, MainArtist, MixingEngineer - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Engineer, Additional Production - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Sally Herbert, Violin - Bruce White, Viola - Warren Zielinski, Violin - Sonia Slany, Viola
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Louisa Fuller, Violin - Mark Rankin, Engineer - Ian Burdge, Cello - Everton Nelson, Violin - Plan B, Producer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist, MixingEngineer - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Additional Production, MixingEngineer - Eric Appapoulay, Engineer, Additional Production, Bass, MixingEngineer - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Harry Brown, Trombone - Sally Herbert, Violin - Aleysha Gordon, Backing Vocals - Hannah Khemoh, Backing Vocals - Bruce White, Viola - Warren Zielinski, Violin - Sonia Slany, Viola - Mark Crown, Horn, Trumpet - Jason Yarde, Horn, Saxophone - Marvin Cottrell, Backing Vocals - Dave Priseman, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Zem Audu, Saxophone - Jennifer Dawodu, Backing Vocals - Joe Bentley, Horn
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Louisa Fuller, Violin - Mark Rankin, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Ian Burdge, Cello - Everton Nelson, Violin - Plan B, Producer, Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Additional Production - Eric Appapoulay, Additional Production, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Sally Herbert, Violin - Bruce White, Viola - Warren Zielinski, Violin - Sonia Slany, Viola
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Plan B, Producer, Lead Vocals, MainArtist - Ben Drew, Writer - David McEwan, Engineer, MixingEngineer - Eric Appapoulay, Bass - Guy Davie, MasteringEngineer - Richard Cassell, Drums - tom 'Rainman' Wright-Goss, Guitar - Harry Brown, Trombone - Aleysha Gordon, Backing Vocals - Hannah Khemoh, Backing Vocals - Jimmy Robertson, MixingEngineer - Chase & Status, MixingEngineer - Mark Crown, Horn, Trumpet - Jason Yarde, Horn, Saxophone - Marvin Cottrell, Backing Vocals - Dave Priseman, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Zem Audu, Saxophone - Jennifer Dawodu, Backing Vocals - Joe Bentley, Horn
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2010 679 Recordings Ltd.
Album review
Four years after Plan B garnered notoriety, if not universal acclaim, with his debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words (2006), he switched styles from rap to soul on his follow-up effort, Defamation of Strickland Banks. Though it's distressing to hear yet another artist hop about the retro-stylized British soul-pop bandwagon, rapper-turned-singer Ben Drew nonetheless comes up with an impressive and fairly unique album that transcends the usual comparisons to Amy Winehouse vocally and Mark Ronson musically. For someone who cut his teeth as a rapper, he's not a bad singer at all. His vocals bear a striking resemblance to those of Smokey Robinson, which nicely complements the Motown-influenced musical style of the album. The production is credited in part to Paul Epworth, whose work with Bloc Party, Kate Nash, and Florence + the Machine has made him one of the United Kingdom's top hitmakers, and it's also credited in part to Drew himself. Kudos to these guys for coming up with a sharp soul-pop style that incorporates a variety of instrumentation, with drums, guitar, and strings at the forefront of each song. In addition to his soul crooning and production guidance, Drew occasionally breaks into rap, such as on the kinetic lead single, "Stay Too Long." The raps in particular give the album an edge lacking in myriad other British soul-pop albums flooding the market the past few years. Another characteristic that makes Defamation of Strickland Banks unique is that it's a concept album about a fictional character named Strickland Banks with Drew as an aspiring actor with an ability to bring the songs to life cinematically. Yet this is the least impressive aspect of the album. It made for good promotional videos in the case of "Stay Too Long," and the likewise stellar follow-up single, "She Said," but the overall plot of Defamation of Strickland Banks is thinly stretched and far less interesting than the songs themselves.
© Jason Birchmeier /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 00:49:48
- Main artists: Plan B
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: Atlantic Records
- Genre: Pop/Rock Pop
© 2011 679 Recordings Ltd. ℗ 2011 679 Recordings Ltd.
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz?
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalog with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets, and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.