RAPPER Plan B looks a totally different man 11 years on from his smash album The Defamation of Strickland Banks.

The 38-year-old – real name Ben Drew – has slimmed down, picked up a hip sense of style and grown his hair.

He previously gave a scathing assessment of his old look in a 2017 interview with the Guardian.

Plan B said: "You see pictures of me at the Ivor Novello awards, I mean, f***ing hell, I looked ill.

"I was so overweight, and to deal with the workload, I was getting through a bottle of JD a night. Then you fancy a bag of crisps, or a bit of ice cream – and it wasn’t a problem before, but it is now, because of all the calories you’re putting in yourself with the drink.”

The rapper and singer’s weight has fluctuated over the years, but he currently appears to be leaner than ever.

Ben's latest album, Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose, came out in 2018, and he was pictured working with DJ and producer Toddla T in January 2020.

The laid back session had a more casual feel to the live sets that preceded it.

During the tour to support that album, he performed in a grey suit and sported slick blond hair and white facepaint around his chin.

It’s not the first time Ben has lost a significant amount of weight  – back in 2010 he shed the pounds while working on his acting career.

And he revealed that Ray Winstone had spurred on his decision to get in shape after they worked together on The Sweeney.

He told The Sun: “Ray came into the studio and we were talking about my character and how someone as young as me has got the part.

“We were saying how I've got to be a man in his early thirties, super-smart, excels in exams, brilliant at sports and Ray looked me up and down and goes, 'Are you sure you're going to get yourself in good enough shape?' I thought right then and there, 'I'm going to do it'. That's the extra incentive I needed. I thought, ‘I'll f***ing show you, pal’.”

He added: “I'm just eating salad, steaks and fish now. I'm eating a lot of prawns. I love prawns. I've even been eating the prawns that have been in the fridge for a few days, it goes through you quicker, you know. That helps weight loss.”

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