Plan B: 'I did soul before Winehouse fame'

Plan B has rejected the idea that his decision to release a soul record was inspired by the fame of Amy Winehouse or Mark Ronson.

The rapper-turned-crooner told The Daily Telegraph that he was not "jumping on the old bandwagon" with the release of his second album The Defamation Of Strickland Banks.

Plan B said: "I was making this music before Mark Ronson made his name, before Amy Winehouse made hers.

"You've got to remember that Mark Ronson, Daniel Merriweather, Duffy, all of them people, we're all kind of a similar age, with the same influences.

"I was making this music since the age of 14 but it just happens that hip hop was the side of me that got shown to the public."

He added: "I've got so many songs that no-one ever hears because they don't fit my image, but I just thought I could make this work."

Plan B confirmed plans to release The Ballad Of Belmarsh - a rap companion disc to his current LP - and to combine both records into a long-form video.

> Click here to read our interview with Plan B