Venting frustrations: Code blue

Last August the UK watched as riots took over its capital Cities as havoc & anarchy dominated the streets of London, Birmingham & Manchester. Strictly speaking it made me extremely angry with society but since then the topic seems to have been ignored and put to one side. Step forward Plan B.

Although the mainstream media has turned a blind eye to the subject, Ben Drew hasn’t. The one time soul singer returned to his Rap roots with the release of “Ill Manors”.  The song in itself is somewhat of a tune but the content and the message involved is provoking and aggressive at the same time as it aims at David Cameron, the Olympics, street culture and the overall perception of lower classed youths in the UK. Ill Manors has been described as “The first great mainstream protest song in years” which is scarily accurate. The riots were over 9 months ago and no artist seems to have tackled the subject. When I was watching the events unfold I felt physically sick and I took to Twitter as quick as I could I vented my frustrations until my fingertips were sore.

None of what I did made any form of difference but that’s because I’m not an artist with any desirable talent, which makes me wonder. Where are the so called trend setters? Justin Bieber has 16 million Twitter followers why hasn’t he recorded anything since this has happened? It’s because mainstream artists are too busy cashing in to care but unfortunately they could really make a difference in the youth of today.

What Plan B is doing is brave. Not many radio stations want to get behind him because many areas are considered to be “Blue” and won’t respond positively to his music. In terms of sales it is a risky move but unlike many mainstream artists Plan B is rapping about subjects that matter to him. Artists like Public Enemy & Rage against the Machine stood for something and Plan B is on par with those in terms of his subject matter.

Sad fact is that Plan B is popular but he isn’t a trend setter. The video for Ill Manors has only 2 Million views which is nothing compared to many other mainstream artists. Plan B does not have such a universal appeal so therefore his message will go unheeded but at least he is trying to make the slightest bit of difference. One thing is certain is that although Plan B is considered a mainstream artist; it’s not all about the money with him.