Plan B

Benjamin Paul Ballance-Drew (born 22 October 1983), primarily known as Plan B or Ben Drew, is a British rapper, singer-songwriter, actor and film director from Forest Gate, London. Plan B first emerged as a hip hop artist releasing his critically acclaimed debut album Who Needs Actions When You Got Words in 2006. His second studio album The Defamation of Strickland Banks (2010) was a soul record and went straight into the UK album chart at no. 1. He has also collaborated with other artists such as Chase & Status most notably on the top ten single "End Credits" (2009). Drew has also had a successful film career as an actor, with roles in Adulthood (2008), Harry Brown (2009) and 4.3.2.1 (2010). In 2012, Drew released the film Ill Manors, which he had written and directed, and Plan B also released an accompanying soundtrack album. Drew was born and brought up in Forest Gate, East London. His mother worked for a local authority and his father, Paul Ballance, played in a punk band, The Warm Jets, in the 1970s. Drew was five months old when his father walked out and six years old when he "disappeared completely". Growing up, he felt outcast from the rest of society: