''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' is the second studio album from English singer and rapper

Plan B Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan. Plan B may also refer to: * Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug Film and television * Plan B Ent ...

. It was released on 12 April 2010 by 679 Recordings. The album is a departure from the sound heard on Plan B's debut album '' Who Needs Actions When You Got Words'', providing a showcase for the rapper's singing. Lyrically the album's songs tell the fictitious tale of one Strickland Banks, a sharp-suited British soul singer who finds fame with bitter-sweet love songs like the album's opener "Love Goes Down", only to have it slip through his fingers when sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. The album received generally positive reviews from music critics. It produced the singles "

Stay Too Long "Stay Too Long" is the first single from British musician Plan B's second album ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks''. The single was released on 8 January 2010. Drum and bass group Pendulum also produced a remix, their first in three years, wh ...

", " She Said", " Prayin', " The Recluse", " Love Goes Down", "Writing's on the Wall" and " Hard Times". The album has sold 1.4 million copies in the UK as of May 2018.

Background

Drew had always wanted to make his second album as a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

and he had previously abandoned an attempt to make a hip hop follow up to his debut ''Who Needs Actions When You Got Words''. After learning more about the technical aspects of singing and having written some soul songs such as " Love Goes Down", which was written whilst supporting

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

on tour in 2006, Plan B came up with the concept of a story about a

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest att ...

singer who gets sent to prison. He commenced recording of the album in which half the songs were hip hop tracks narrated by Plan B and the other half were soul songs told through the eyes of the fictional character Strickland Banks. However, this idea was scrapped because the two genres did not work well together and the label

679 Artists 679 Artists (formally known as Sixsevenine and 679 Recordings) was a Warner Music Group-owned record label based in London, England. It was started by Nick Worthington who after leaving XL Recordings in 2001, started the company with War ...

thought the idea was too confusing. Hence the album was split into two records and it was agreed that the soul record would be released as Plan B's second studio album. The sound of the album was influenced by Paul Epworth who produced the demo version of "Writing's on the Wall", although the majority of the album was recorded with producers David McEwan and Eric Appapoulay at The Sanctuary, London. Production took more than two years due to the simultaneous work on the hip hop and soul albums.

Concept

The album tells the story from the first-hand perspective of Strickland Banks, a fictional character played by Plan B. The album's opening track, "Love Goes Down" is a love song sang by Banks about his girlfriend while "Writing's on the Wall" details the new difficulties in their relationship. "Stay Too Long" follows him and his entourage as they celebrate the success of his concert with a night out which culminates in him having a one-night stand with a woman. In "She Said", it is learned that this woman is obsessed with his music and believes herself to be in love with him. He rejects her so she alleges that he raped her and the subsequent trial results in his incarceration In "Welcome to Hell" he is sent to prison, and much of the rest of the album is about his experience inside. Throughout the course of the songs "Hard Times" and "The Recluse", Strickland gets more isolated and insecure throughout as he struggles to cope with prison life. This results in his abuse at the hands of other prisoners, resulting in him purchasing a shiv on the prison black market throughout the course of "Traded in My Cigarettes". In "Prayin'" he is confronted by another prisoner who attacks him. With the help of another inmate Strickland kills the attacker in self-defence, with the other inmate taking the blame, and is burdened with this guilt during "Darkest Place". The next two tracks, "Free" and "I Know a Song" detail initially his anger, then his acceptance of his life inside prison. In the last track, "What You Gonna Do", Strickland is in court again as new evidence has been brought up on his case while he waits anxiously to hear the verdict. The album finishes with the listener not sure of whether he is sent back to prison or released, leaving it open to interpretation.

Singles

" was released as the first single from the album on 8 January 2010. It entered the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 17 January 2010, where it reached a peak of No. 9. It also peaked at No. 3 on the

UK R&B Chart The UK Hip Hop and R&B Singles Chart and the UK Hip Hop and R&B Albums Chart (also known as The Official UK Hip Hop and R&B Charts, the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Singles and the Top 40 Hip Hop and RnB Albums, or simply the UK Urban Chart) are 40-posi ...

, making it Drew's first Top 10 single. " She Said" was released as the second single from the album, on 24 February 2010. It reached No. 3 on the

on 4 April 2010 as well as peaking at No. 1 on the

, making it Drew's biggest selling single to date. " Prayin' was released as the third single from the album, on 9 July 2010. It climbed up the chart. before peaking at No. 16 on the

. It also peaked at No. 9 on the

, and overall, is Drew's second biggest single. " The Recluse" was released as the fourth single from the album on 4 October 2010. The single peaked at No. 35 on the

, and at No. 19 on the

, making it Drew's fourth consecutive Top 40 hit, and fifth overall. " Love Goes Down" was released as the fifth single from the album on 3 December 2010. It was later added to the A-List BBC Radio 1 Playlist, and peaked at No. 62 on the

. "She Said" / "Prayin" was released a digital download medley single on 20 February 2011 after Drew performed the medley at the

2011 BRIT Awards Brit Awards 2011 was the 31st edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 15 February 2011 at The O2 Arena in London for the first time in its history, moving fr ...

. It charted at No. 72 on the

. The medley also includes an excerpt of ''The Ballad of Belmarsh''. " Writing's on the Wall" was released as the sixth single from the album on 7 March 2011. The single did not chart on the

. Two versions of the music video were released; the first available in February 2010. " Hard Times" was released as the album's seventh and final single on 19 May 2011. The single version features newly recorded vocals from

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

and Paloma Faith and peaked at No. 147 on the

, in aid of Drew's chosen charity.

Film

''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' is intended to be made into a musical film directed by Plan B himself. It was originally conceived as a short film to be released alongside the album and the original trailer was uploaded online in late 2009. The film intends to incorporate all the music videos from ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' and ''The Ballad of Belmarsh'' with scenes of dialogue.

Kelly Brook Kelly Ann Parsons (born 23 November 1979), known professionally as Kelly Brook, is an English model, actress, and media personality. She is known for her modelling work in the UK, and in the US for her role as Prudence on the NBC sitcom '' On ...

and

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include " My Generation", " Pinball Wizard", " Won't Get Fooled ...

have also been rumoured to have roles in the film. A second film trailer was uploaded to YouTube in February 2011.

Critical reception

Upon its release, ''The Defamation of Strickland Banks'' received generally positive reviews from music critics. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 75, based on 16 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". The critics tended to compare this work with Plan B's previous album, ''Who Needs Actions When You Got Words'', from four years earlier. The change from "spectacularly violent soliloquies" on his debut to crooning soul on his second effort caught some reviewers by surprise, though not all unhappily. Ian Wade of the BBC gave the album and Plan B great praise, calling it "tremendous work", admiring its range, as for example "on 'Welcome to Hell' he trills like a scared-to-pick-up-the-soap-in-the-prison-shower

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

, while 'Hard Times' and 'Love Goes Down' are just lovely – anyone operating in the greasy world of pop would give a limb for such songs."Wade, Ian (12 April 2010)
"BBC – Music – Review of Plan B – The Defamation of Strickland Banks"
BBC. For Pete Paphides of ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', ''Defamation'' deserved 4 out of 5 stars.Paphides, Pete (10 April 2010)
"Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks review"
Times Online. Times Newspapers. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

''s Alexis Petridis gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Though dissatisfied with its concept and "gaping holes in the album's plot", he said, "Drew's reinvention suits him. The strength of his voice was understandably overlooked on his debut, but it comes into its own here: a high, aching croon that adds an appealing touch of self-doubt to the hardest-hitting lyrics. Rather than simply drafting in Mark Ronson to add a retro-soul veneer, he's clearly studied the source material: the result is a string of uniformly well-done Smokey Robinson pastiches. In a neat touch, the bleaker Strickland Banks's story becomes, the lovelier the melodies.".Petridis, Alexis (8 April 2010)
"Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks"
guardian.co.uk. Guardian News and Media. John Freeman, writing for '' Clash'', gave it a 7/10 rating, while suggesting that the style change.Freeman, John (24 March 2010)
"Plan B – The Defamation Of Strickland Banks , Clash Music Latest Album Review"
Clashmusic.com. Clash Music. '' NME''s Sam Wolfson gave the album a rating of 6 out of 10, and expressed regret at Plan B's move into new territory.Wolfson, Sam (16 April 2010)
"Album Review: Plan B – 'The Defamation Of Strickland Banks' (679)"
NME.com. IPC MEDIA. At ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', Thomas H Green gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "accessible, polished and brimming with verve". He closed his review saying, "The rapping hasn't been completely abandoned, either, but the emphasis here is on his sweet soul voice and a thumping Motown groove, an intriguing change of direction that's both passionate and populist."Green, Thomas H. (9 April 2010)
"Plan B: The Defamation of Strickland Banks, CD review"
telegraph.co.uk. Telegraph Media Group.

Commercial performance

On 18 April 2010, the album debuted on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

at No. 1, selling 68,173 copies in its first week and a further 47,950 in its second week. It was the 5th biggest selling album of 2010 in the United Kingdom, with sales of 826,400. As of May 2018, the album has sold 1.4 million copies in the UK.

Track listing

Note * The deluxe edition sold at HMV does not contain the Shy FX remix of "She Said".

Personnel

* Ben Drew – vocals, producer, mixing Production * David McEwan – producer, engineer, mixing *

Paul Epworth Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member o ...

– producer, mixing * Eric Appapoulay – additional producer, mixing * Mark "Top" Rankin – engineer, mixing * Will Kennard – additional mixing * Harry Escott – string arrangements * Sally Herbert – string arrangements * Jason Yarde – brass arrangements * Guy Davie – mastering Additional musicians * Aleysha Gordon – backing vocals * Hannah Kemoh – backing vocals * Samantha Smith – backing vocals * Jennifer Dawodu – backing vocals * Marvin Cottrell – backing vocals * Tom Wright-Goss – guitar * Eric Appapoulay – bass, backing vocals * Jodi Milliner – bass * Darren Playford - drums. co-writer * Cassell The BeatMaker – drums. co-writer * Paul Epworth – drums * Everton Newson – violin * Louisa Fuller – violin * Sally Herbert – violin * Warren Zielinski – violin * Bruce White – viola * Sonia Slany – viola * Ian Burdge – cello * Harry Escott – additional cello * Jason Yarde – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone * Zem Audu – tenor saxophone * Harry Brown – trombone * David Prisemen – trumpet, flugelhorn * Mark Crown – trumpet Managerial and design * Fabrice Spelta – art direction * Mike Hosey – art direction * Ben Parks – photography * Roy Eldridge – management * Sam Eldridge – management

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* * * *
The Defamation of Strickland Banks
' at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Defamation Of Strickland Banks, The 2010 albums 679 Artists albums Albums produced by Paul Epworth Atlantic Records albums Concept albums Soul albums by English artists Plan B (musician) albums