ILL Manors Review: Dark politics from Britain's best rapper

Protest music is dying. Despite the myriad of political conflicts and issues occurring all around the world, musicians are becoming increasing reliant of anecdotal lyrics, refusing to take an interest of the world revolving around them. It’s particularly uncommon that rap, forever the genre of dull artists moaning about their daily lives, comes up with an outspokenly political album. And you’d expect it even less of Ben Drew, whose first record Who Needs Action When You Got Words was an expletive-ridden, bratty affair and whose second, The Defamation of Strickland Banks, was essentially a soul album. But remarkably, Drew (commonalty known as Plan B), has actually recorded a third record full of dark political undertones. And, even more remarkably, it’s superb.

Inspired by Drew’s own experiences of growing up on a violent London council estate Ill Manors weaves a number of musically tabooed themes into its eleven tracks. Ranging from drug culture and poverty to prostitution and gang warfare, you’re unlikely to find many uplifting moments on Ill Manors. Like Radiohead’s OK Computer, the ostentatious darkness of songs like Drug Dealer and Pity the Plight make Ill Manors a decidedly uncomfortable album to listen to on first hearing. Listening to the record for the first time, lyrics including and if we see any rich kids on the way/we’ll make them wish they stayed inside on title track Ill Manors present the image of simple thugishness, but examine lines in the same song like keep on believing what you read in the papers/council estate kids, scum of the earth and you’ll notice Drew already challenging modern perceptions of youth culture.

Drew’s lyrics have improved immeasurably since his humble beginnings on his 2006 debut, and writing about topics he clearly feels strongly about bring out the best in his words. As he’d likely struggle to hold an album as ambitious as Ill Manors together on his own, he’s aided by an impressive cast of featured artists including Labrinth and legendary punk poet John Cooper Clarke. While this does add a range to the tracks, the album still feels oppressively dark; it’s certainly not easy listening. Interspersing the music with dialogue from the Drew directed film of the same name helps the album to tell a story in its songs, but it also makes the tracks still darker, with the song Pity the Plight being particularly shocking in this respect.

Even so, Drew is musically on top of his game throughout the record, but the overarching dark atmosphere of the album make it difficult to listen too without having to take a break in favour of hearing something more jolly. It’s still probably Plan B’s best record yet, and his stance against society’s treatment of the disadvantage youth is commendable, but Ill Manors is a case of a little too much.