Who Needs Actions When You Got Words (DMD)

Straight outta East London comesBen "Plan B" Drew, strewing acclaim behind him - the BritishEminem, a rappingArctic Monkeys, evenKurt Cobainhas been invoked in his name. But those comparisons lack imagination, how about a modern-dayLinton Kwesi Johnson, but without a decent edu-kashun, and forced to fall back on his wits. With the same gleaning eye for detail, a similar rage against a society who shuts them out, and an equal eloquence of rhyme, albeit expletive-laced on B's account, both men strip away England's polite facade to expose the ugliness at its core.Times have changed though, so where LKJ used broad strokes to paint the political and social currents of his day, B utilizes the small brush of the individual to draw his dystopian world.He does this brilliantly on the opening "Kidz", balancing a boasting gang-banger wilding night out, with a scathing condemnatory editorial. But can you blame it all on the kids? "Sick 2 Def" definitively answers that question, as B slams his own critics, whilst taking aim at pop culture and society's own flaws.That's a lethal number, but the rapper is even more illuminating when describing daily life in the 'hood. "Dead and Buried" sums it up, as his protagonists' wrong turns invariable trap them in insolvable, ofttimes fatal dilemmas."Everyday" delves into a junkie's battle with drugs, "No More Eatin'" a boy's failed struggle against violence, while "Tough Love" depicts an honor killing. The infectious "Where Ya From?" is an anti-paean to his hometown, an ironic antidote to all the big-ups to my 'hood from the American rappers. And unlike Eminem's well-publicized battle with his mother, it's his father that B disdains, coldly expressed on "I Don't Hate You", while his mother elicits tender concern on "Mama (Loves a Crackhead)".That latter track features an inspired sample ofHall & Oates"Say No",Gary Puckett & the Union Gap's "Young Girl" gives forewarning of "Charmaine", while a particularly clever use of a sample