Hailing from Forest Gate, East London, 27-year-old Ben Drew aka Plan B shot to stardom in 2010 with his soul-inspired hip hop tunes, reaching number one in the UK with The Defamation of Strickland Banks. Though he's been around for while, not only as a musician, but delving into the worlds of acting and directing, Plan B has had a standout year. He played at T4 on The Beach, performed alongside Elton John and will headline a huge tour next March. We chat to Ben about his rise to fame.
So, have you been doing interviews all day?
I just did one with the Daily Star and the reporter ended up asking me out for dinner.
So you're going on a date?
Yeah, we're going on a date, we're getting married, she's my future ex-wife.
Wow! We have the scoop. Does she know that?
Yeah, I told her that and she laughed.
So, you get a lot of female attention...
Only lately since I've become big and famous. Listen, I used to get girls, but I had to work hard. Girls are pragmatic, the guy has to have something to offer, he can't just be funny and good-looking. Women are pragmatic, men are romantic.
What do you look for in a girl?
You've got to think, this girl is so hot, I would never need another girl. Once you have that, she's got to be intelligent and has to care about real things versus material things. I can't deal with girls when all they care about is how they look and if they can buy clothes. When I meet a girl like that, it kind of annoys me.
She's got to have ambition. If she has a career, it means she's not going to make me the most important thing in her life. In a relationship, if one person makes the other person more important, puts them on a pedestal, it's not gonna work because you're both fighting for power. The only girl I could be with would be like me and wouldn't need me to make her happy. The overall goal is to meet a girl, fall in love and get married. That's what I'm looking for. I'm a romantic, I think most men are.
(Plan B puts me on hold to ask a girl for a cigarette.)
Girl: I've been trying to get tickets for your concert! In November!
Plan B: Oh, you missed it. Thanks for the cigarette darling!
You should have mentioned the Russian Standard Vodka show! I wanted to ask about that, how to do you feel about performing live versus in the studio?
I love making music in the studio, I'm the most creative in the studio. If there's a good crowd and good sound, good gig, I love that.
Do you get stage fright?
It's nerve wracking when you do something you've never done before, when you go up a level. It's hard to shut that out.
I saw that you performed with Elton John last month.
That's another thing I've never done before, it was so massive, so big and scary. I think I did the best I could. I'm very temperamental onstage - the sound has to be just right.
You said in an interview that you hate pop music.
I don't! I hate music that's just catchy and patronises the audience, I hate that kids go around singing lyrics that don't make sense. We should teach kids and prepare them for real life. Other than that, I love pop music. There are some Kylie songs I love, there are some Britney Spears songs I love. It takes an extra bit of effort to make sure things mean something. I think pop music has changed and it's getting a bit more intelligent now, so I don't mind it.
And you directed a film?
I directed a film called Ill Mannered, it's a hip hop musical, in September. We're editing it now and in the studio doing the soundtrack. That will come out in 2011.
Plan B is headlining the Russian Standard Vodka Originals winter festival on November 14th. To find out how to get your hands on free tickets to Russian Standard Vodka Originals gigs visit www.rsvoriginals.co.uk.
