2.13.2007

Plan B vs. Radiohead - Missing Links (Bootleg Mix)


Visceral, graphic and gritty, Plan B is re-writing the book on British rappers one gut-checking rhyme at a time. Don't let the accent fool you, Plan B's debut Who Needs Actions, When You've Got Words tells the story of the underclasses with an honesty and barely sublimated rage that will ring as true in Bed-Stuy as they do in Brixton.

While the rapper/singer/guitarist will likely make his first US inroads via his (sick) acoustic version of "Kidz," he doesn't have to strip it that bare to make his lyrics pop. From Plan B's mashup mixtape "Paint It Blacker," comes this downtempo, yet electric bootleg mix of "Missing Links." Riding a haunting sample of Radiohead's "Pyramid Song," the appropriated backing track mirrors Plan B's gray-sky rhymes perfectly--actually improving on the already top-shelf album version. The story of a neighborhood's drug-fueled descent and the people who've become "missing links" in its wake. The bruising honesty of "Missing Links" stands in stark contrast to the showy veneer of Cristal-popping, Gucci-drenched bling obsessives.

Don't sleep on his debut album due on these shores come April.

No comments: