Professor Green ''was never a gangster''.

The 31-year-old star was stabbed in a nightclub in 2009, but as he prepares to release his autobiography called 'Lucky', the rap star has dismissed suggestions he ever lived a gangster lifestyle.

He told The Daily Star newspaper: ''I was never a gangster. Someone asked me why there wasn't more violence in it (the book). There was more violence, but why am I going to put that in the book? It's not a crime novel. I didn't want kids to feel - 'I want to be that.'

''People have a misconception that rappers are hard and that's part of the problem, I think. I was apprehensive about people hearing me get emotional but it made me realise I have to use my voice for something other than my own benefit.''

Meanwhile, the hip-hop star also recalled his stabbing six years ago, saying he could feel his life ''bleeding out'' of him.

He said: ''They say when you're stabbed, for a moment you don't realise what's happened - not true in my case. I was in no doubt I was in a fight for my life.

''I called my nan and then mum to apologise. I could feel my life bleeding out of me as I waited for the ambulance to arrive. It seemed to take an eternity.

''The surgeons had found the bottle had sliced through my salivary gland and only my jaw bone had stopped it tearing right through my throat.''