The Plan

There are only three things in the world that I hate, and one of them is Ben Drew.

In the latest instalment of the always brilliant Kermode & Mayo podcast, they interviewed Ray Winstone and Ben Drew about their upcoming film The Sweeney, which I won't prejudge, other than to say it looks shit.

But the worst bit of the interview came from Ben Drew (AKA Plan B), have a listen: 

I'm sorry I just made you listen to almost two minutes of Ben Drew talking. They're two minutes you won't get back, two minutes in which you could have done something more fun, like staring at a wall or eating a rusty nail.

The reason that clip made me so angry is because it's a classic example of one of the worst things ever: successful people complaining about their success. It's like the humblebrag, but without even the pretence of humbleness. A brag, I guess. 

Ben Drew complains about working without holidays, except for two holidays which "ain't enough." He complains about being in the immensely privileged position of being able to pursue whichever project he chooses. He complains about being successful.

He hates being famous, and I'm with him on that one; I hate that he's famous. He hates music and films, and again I sympathise, because I hate his music and his films. Maybe we have more in common than I thought. We should meet for a drink some time, if he ever gets a gap in his impossibly hectic schedule.

Poor Ben Drew, he doesn't even get the weekend off, like "normal people" do, and what a lovely phrase that is too. The "normal people" have it so easy, not like the supernormal Ben Drew, with his tireless work, without which we'd all die.

Sarcasm aside, Ben Drew just sounds churlish and ungrateful by claiming that he's somehow worse off than "normal people". Hearing him complaining about having to spend two years promoting an album like it's the hardest thing in the world is just painful. The reality is that any one of those "normal people" would swap lives with Ben Drew in a heartbeat. Well actually, they wouldn't, because then they'd have to be Ben Drew. 

Also, if he works so very hard, then why is everything he does so shit? I think that's actually my main problem here; Ben Drew is fucking shit. I probably wouldn't mind him complaining about how successful he is, if he wasn't so absolutely fucking shit. I've not seen him in anything, nor have I seen the film he directed, or heard much of his music beyond the total fucking shit that's always playing everywhere, but still, he is shit.

Thanks for reading, I'll leave you with the Poets of Rhythm song that this blog is named after. Enjoy!