Plan B - Ill Manors
Plan B delivers a scathing, highly political, super charged protest song with his latest track Ill Manors. The track focuses on the complex issues of last summer’s riots that sparked wide spread unrest. Ill Manors reflects on the raging unease that still surrounds the subject matter, and deals unflinchingly with the psychology of class, social liberalism and the widespread hatred of the new Chav race. Not since the Brit pop era of 1990 has Britain’s twisted class issues been thrusted so clearly into the mainstream.
The rapid fire lyrics scatter from one subject to another falling like bricks on the front line of a police riot line. Most importantly Plan B, real name Ben Drew, neither condones or acknowledges the actions of those involved. Ill Manors makes no justification for what happened and yet it’s edgy unease goes some way to explaining the bigger picture:
“As an artist who’s trying to convey a message I need to get under people’s skin,” he told BBC’s 1Xtra Mistajam. “The song needs to have that visceral energy … just like those horrible pictures we see on cigarette packets that are designed to shock us into being aware of our actions.” (Via The Guardian)
The song might not resonate so well with the chilled out Aussie audiences but I’ve often said that the best music stems from the greatest of societies wrong doings and this latest track from Plan B is a prime example. Check out the clip below to see for yourself:
Listen to Plan B explain the inspiration behind the new ill Manors project with BBC 1Xtra here. Play nicely now.
