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Plan B: Islington Academy, London

Sophie Heawood, The Guardian, 1 April 2006

THERE ARE THINGS that get said only for the shock factor, and then there are things that are just shocking. Plan B's subject matter, with its colourful landscape of drug dealing, stabbings and genital warts, doesn't make for cosy chats around the breakfast table. The rapper's manner is equally high-impact, as he snarls at the mic like an alsatian that has just broken free from its muzzle. Yet the 21-year-old east Londoner (real name Ben Drew) delivers his tirade with such idiosyncratic elegance, not to mention passion, that the ends entirely justify the means.

Total word count of piece: 302

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