Skip to main content

The Defamation of Strickland Banks

The Defamation of Strickland Banks is an album by British rapper/singer Plan B (real name Ben Drew). Released in 2010, The Defamation (that's what I'm calling it for short, lol) is a concept album which tells the story of fictional soul singer Strickland Banks (played by Plan B), who becomes famous but loses it all when he is falsely convicted of rape and sent to prison. It was Plan B's second studio album and debuted at No 1 on the UK Album Charts.

Strickland finds success with his singles Love Goes Down and Writing's On The Wall. After performing at a concert, he goes out to celebrate and has a one night stand with an obsessed fan (played by actress Kaya Scoledario). When Strickland rejects her the next morning, she accuses him of raping her. He's convicted of rape and sent to prison.

Strickland becomes a recluse and is later abused by other inmates. He trades in his cigarettes for a shiv (prison knife type weapon) to protect himself. It comes in handy when he's attacked by another inmate but he ends up killing him in self defence. Another prisoner who helped Strickland takes the blame, which leads to Strickland feeling extremely guilty. Eventually he comes to accept his imprisonment but then there is a glimmer of hope for him with the chance of a re-trial due to new evidence. The album ends on a cliff hanger and you don't know if Strickland was released or not.

The songs that were singles weren't all released in the order they appeared on the album. I wanted to post them on here in chronological order, but although the first song on the album is Love Goes Down, the video ends with Strickland getting arrested, so it's behind the others. It was the 5th single from the album (released in December 2010). So I'm going to post the song Love Goes Down now but post the video later. Here's Love Goes Down:




And here's Writing's On The Wall. It was the 6th single and came out in March 2011. In this video Strickland performs at the concert and then goes out to celebrate afterwards while his girlfriend (Vicky McClure) waits at home for him. He and his girlfriend appear to be having problems and this is the night Strickland meets the fan (the girl he has a one night stand with) and goes home with her. According to Wikipedia there are two versions of the music video but I can't find another one.






Stay Too Long was the first single but it's the 3rd song and the videos are pretty similar (both relating to Strickland at the concert and then going out partying, except Writing's On The Wall is from the angle of his relationship breaking down), so I'll post it next time. :)

Plan B wanted to make a musical film based on The Defamation but I'm not sure if  he has yet. Watch the trailer for the album/videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Po_ArckLTXg

You can visit Plan B's site at: www.time4planb.co.uk

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

25th Anniversary of Mariah Carey's Butterfly Album

My favourite singer Mariah Carey recently released a 25th anniversary edition of her 6th studio album Butterfly. The original album was released on 16th September 1997 and featured songs such as her hit single Honey, The Roof and My All. It was actually the first album I ever bought (on cassette tape, lol) and I still consider it one of my fave MC albums. :) Butterfly was the first album that Mariah had more control over and it is R'n'B, rather than the pop (and later pop/R'n'B) of her previous releases. It also has pop and hip hop influences. The expanded edition contain 8 extra tracks (the original standard edition has 12)- a duet version of Whenever You Call with Brian McKnight , a new take on The Roof featuring Brandy , live versions of Butterfly and My All, acapella versions of Fourth of July and Outside, an Amorphous Anniversary Club Mix of Butterfly (with DJ Amorphous ) and a remix of Honey (Another Taste of Honey David Morales Mix). I had previously heard the D

New J.Lo and JoJo Music

Two singers I like, Jennifer Lopez and JoJo have new music out, so today I'm sharing it on the blog! Jennifer Lopez- Baila Conmigo First up is Jennifer Lopez, whose new song is the Spanish language Baila Conmigo (Dance with Me). It's a cover of the 2018 single by Dayvi featuring Kelly Ruiz . Watch the video with the original mix here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZM52M6cfSA Baila Conmigo (J.Lo version) came out on 10th October. This is an audio but if there's a music video later, I'll update the post. :) Want more J.Lo? Check out these posts: Spanish language songs: Dame Lyrics and Translation: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2016/04/jennifer-lopez-dame-lyrics-and.html Video for Amor, Amor, Amor: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2017/11/weekly-music-video_15.html Spanish song Al Anillo and Dinero:  https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2018/05/new-jennifer-lopez-music.html 50th bday post: https://starsparklex.blogspot.com/2019/07/happy-50th-b

New Unexpected

We're finally getting the new season of the reality TV series Unexpected in the UK! Season 3 was shown in the US last summer , and I wondered when we'd get it here. I don't have any online streaming services so thought I'd just watch clips on YouTube, lol. However it's now starting here in early March. Similar to the popular MTV franchise Teen Mom , Unexpected focuses on teen parents. The first series featured 3 couples expecting babies- Lily Bennett and her boyfriend James Kennedy who have daughter Aaliyah, now 2;  Mckayla Adkins and partner Caelan Morrison who have son Timothy, also known as Timmy (and now daughter Gracelynn , born in January 2019), and  Lexus Scheller and boyfriend Shayden Massey who have daughter Scarlett. Season 2 saw the departure of Lilly and the addition of 3 new pregnant girls and their partners- Laura Barron and her boyfriend (now husband) Tylor Stawmyor who have son Lucas (and have since had another baby , a 2nd son, who is named Leo),