Plan B – Who Needs Actions When You Got Words

Plan B – Who Needs Actions When You Got Words / 2007 Warner / 14 Tracks / http://www.time4planb.co.uk /

The United Kingdom comes up with the most interesting rappers. Since Goldie Looking Chain and The Streets, the country has been creating notable changes to the style that still maintain a very catchy and radio-friendly song. “Who Needs Actions When You Got Words” starts out with “Kidz”, and while the backing beat does not change up much throughout the full length of the track, the flow titillates and keeps individuals listening in. “Sick 2 Def” has an acoustic guitar operate as the backing beat, while the flow mixes equal parts Streets with Eyedea.

While the accent is a little harsh at points, individuals can still hear the tremendous amount of emotional content on this disc. The vocals discuss matters that have previously only been heard on Necro and Esham albums, but there are hooks aplenty, enough for a censored track to rocket up the chart. The backing beat for “No Good” blends the more organic with the inorganic styles approached by the first two tracks, with yet another minor variation on Plan B’s solo. The R&B hook that would fit a Brian McKnight is an addition to the track that makes everything complete. After individuals are able to hear a few Plan B tracks, things seem to settle down into a fairly-plan able album. “Mama (Loves A Crackhead)” mixes the same styles that “No Good” did, and “Charmaine” uses the same smoothed-out R&B that was present on the aforementioned track.

“Charmaine” could get some play on this side of the shores, as it links in quite nicely to the “Cupid’s Chokehold” market, albeit with a more distinct accent than the Gym Class Heroes track. The sheer amount of tracks on “Who Needs Actions” is large; since there are a few tracks that do not contribute much more in the way of variation to the overall formula, excising these tracks would make the resulting album that much stronger. A song like “I Don’t Hate You” would stay, owing to the classical sounding piano line and slower tempo that it enjoys over the rest of the tracks on the disc. Plan B knows how to rap, that is never in question, but it seems like some of the backing beats on this album are not qualitatively different from those on other tracks. If there is more in the way of variation on subsequent albums, the resulting album will show off Plan B’s abilities that much more.

Top Tracks: Everyday, Tough Love

Rating: 4.9/10