There are lots of things that we like in the world. For example, beer, hot summer days and those new Cadbury chocolate bars with cream egg stuff inside them. This may not me to everyone’s taste, but we know something that we like and that you’ll like – free stuff.

So when we got word that Plan B was performing for zilch at a nearby record shop, we raced down to see him do his thing, pretty much purely because we’re cheapskates, really. It seemed that we weren’t the only people who’d got word of this free gig, as we arrived; the shop was beginning to fill up nicely.

Even before Plan B was due to arrive it was heaving inside and was soon full to capacity, leaving many disappointed punters outside. Our advice? Get there sooner next time, suckers. Soon the time arrived for the main man to arrive. At 5pm sharp, Plan B, aka Ben Drew, entered the store with his instrument of choice, the good old fashioned guitar. Whilst many tracks on his album Who Needs Actions When You’ve Got Words, contain many different sounds, it was pleasant to see him perform his tracks in such a stripped down and basic way.

As he fought his way to the front through the expectant crowd, he laughed and proudly exclaimed “This was the most extreme in store I've ever done.” The reason for this being that no mic stand was available for him. So instead, a custom one had been created from an old stool and the end of a broom handle, expertly taped together to give the same effect of a mic stand. No introductions were given by Mr. Plan B; he stepped up to the mic and boldly shouted in to the mic. “All right, it’s my time, shut the f*ck up.” With this dynamite start, it startled many in the audience, including us here at hecklerspray who weren’t expecting such a strong welcome.

Plan B then plunged in to Kidz, a song telling us about the harsh and sometimes brutal upbringing that some youngsters have. There’s a vast difference between hearing it on record and live – on record, you could fob it off as sung by anyone. But live, he sings it with so much raw energy and emotion that you couldn’t help feel worried by some of the harsh realities that life delivers, like robbings, stabbings and muggings. Not the sort of issue that’s often covered, but here it's no holds barred stuff. Next is Mama, the current single, and probably one of the reasons why there is an in-store happening today. We’re informed that this is a true life tale about his mother, who was being used and abused by a crack dealer. Nice. 

Once again, whilst this particular single may sound a little bit poppy, this stripped-down version gives the song a much more powerful feel to it, making the lyrics sink in. Finally, one of our personal favorites is performed as the final track. It's Sick 2 Def. We would quote some of the lyrics here for you to analyse, but some of them are so explicit we might get in trouble with your Mum, and we wouldn’t want that. Some of them address everyday issues including alcohol and cigarettes, but some are so twisted and vile they'd be bound to leave a nasty image in your mind. 

Plan B is certainly a talented individual who brings something unique in to the world of hip-hop. The use of a guitar is something that is unique and will probably be copied by a million others quite quickly. But for now, we have a British talent. Note the word British. Maybe the days of importing American hip-hop is over. Don’t get us wrong, American material is all good, but we want something that a British audience can relate to. How many of us can drink bottles of Cristal champagne every night? Not many, it's usually Blue Nun in our case. Whilst Plan B's set was short – it was an in-store performance, after all – it was defiantly sweet and, like Nikki from Big Brother 572454, it left us whingeing for more.

[review by Matthew Laidlow]