1. Daniel Rayson
Plan B analysis
These are all images of the artist and Mercury Music prize
nominee Plan B, I think these three images in one pretty much
sum up Plan B’s star persona. He is an east London council estate
lad, whom has grown up to break out of his social class and
achieve fame in his own right. He sticks to his roots very strongly
though which is part of what sells him so strongly, especially to
other like him growing up in underprivileged areas and on the
‘poor’ side of the social divide. This dedication to his routes can
be seen in one of his latest songs “Ill Manors”.
The song starts out with with a flow of sting based instruments
but then drops in words with a heavy bombardment of strong
disagreement of social morals and standards and then carries on
stinging. With a strong distaste for society, "Ill Manors" is a
harshly articulate bellow of underclass rage. Starting with a
typical British street holler, the song is a rallying-cry for class
war: "Oi! I said, Oi! What you looking at you little rich boy?
We're poor round here, Run home and lock your door, don’t
come round here no more, you could get robbed for real, you
know my manor's ill." The song is a truthful artistic attack upon
the wealthier class, this part of him is what sells him to those
who can relate to him, yet at the same time can also appeal to
those whom are a part of the wealthier class.
Plan B has proven to be very adaptable to fit into the star
persona he needs to appeal to his audience. Although he'd
started out as an R&B singer, he decided to rap on his first
album, “Who Needs Action When You Got Words”. It didn’t do
as well as he'd hoped, so he switched and invented a Soul Man
persona for a cinematic concept album, “The Defamation of
Strickland Banks”. The success of this new album meant that
Plan B was presented with the opportunity to change back to rap
and hip-hop and give it a second shot, to which he has been very
successful and has now launched his career into films further
more building his star persona.
Overall Plan B’s star persona shows him as a man that has not
forgotten where he has come from, he respects his upbringing
and is proud of it. He is willing to stand up for people like him
whom cannot voice their opinions. He is now branching out into
films such as his star role in ‘The Sweeney’, which will make him
appeal to alot more people as those who may not particularity
like his skills on music may enjoy his acting.