Professor Green

Professor Green (born Stephen Paul Manderson 27.11.1983)

Professor Green is a British rapper who found fame with the release of his debut album Alive Till I'm Dead.

Professor Green: Childhood & Early Career

Professor Green was born in Hackney, East London, where he was raised by his grandmother. His father committed suicide in 2008.

He got into rapping after he was at a party where people were freestyling; someone handed him the mic and he felt that it worked for him. Then, he went to a freestyle night called LyricPad and won, despite having had no prior experience.

A scout from JumpOff spotted him and he ended up taking part in rap battles every week and eventually became champion. He became the only rapper to have won seven times in a row, something that he achieved twice. He was spotted by Mike Skinner of The Streets, who signed him to the label that he ran at the time, The Beats.

In May 2009, Professor Green was stabbed in the neck with a broken bottle at cargo nightclub in East London. The resultant scar overlaps the tattoo of the word 'Lucky' that he has on his neck. His attacker was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Professor Green: Music Career

Professor Green did not have a very successful time whilst he was signed to The Beats. Though he speaks fondly of working with Mike Skinner, professionally, the label did not serve him as he had hoped.

After signing to Virgin Records, Professor Green announced that his debut album would be entitled Alive Till I'm Dead. The debut single from the album, 'I Need You Tonight' was produced by ThundaCatz and was released in April 2010. The track featured a sample from the INXS track 'Need You Tonight'. The track peaked at number three in the UK and was certified Silver.

The second track from the album, 'Just Be Good To Green' was released in July 2010 and featured the UK singer Lily Allen as well as a sample from 'Just Be Good to Me' by the SOS band.

A week after the single was released the album came out, peaking at number two in the UK albums chart. The third single to be released from Alive Till I'm Dead was 'Monster' which features another successful UK rapper, Example. He then went on to release 'Jungle', which features another UK artist, Maverick Sabre.

Towards the end of 2010, Professor Green became embroiled in a public feud with the UK grime artist Wiley, on the social networking site Twitter. The feud started when Wiley stated that Professor Green would not have a successful career, were it not for the US rapper Eminem. Professor Green responded by saying that Eminem was an influence on his music, but that he was comfortable with that.

The second album from Professor Green is entitled At Your Inconvenience and was released in October 2011. The lead single (the title track) was played by Zane Lowe in July 2011 as a promotional track for the album but the first single proper was 'Read All About It', featuring Emeli Sandé. The track reached number one in the UK and was followed by the second single 'Never Be A Right Time', featuring vocals by Ed Drewett.