Professor Green, Stephen Paul Manderson, is a multi-talented rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in the London suburb of Hackney in 1983, his musical career started effortlessly when he realized he was a natural freestyler. Lacking the experience of fellow competitors, he still entered several rap competitions, and went on to win many of them, including the first JumpOff MySpace rap tournament in 2008. Professor Green has been recording and releasing music since 2006, although his first official single wasn't released until 2010. His earlier recordings included several mixtapes, the first entitled Lecture#1, followed by The Green EP, which he recorded on his own after the record label he was signed to folded.
Green's first album, Alive Till I'm Dead, was released in 2010 and reached number two on the UK album charts. The first two singles from this album were "I Need You Tonight" and "Just Be Good to Green". "I Need You Tonight", which sampled INXS, reached number three on the UK charts. Green released two more singles before releasing his promotional single, "At Your Inconvenience", for the second album of the same title in 2011. "Read All About It" was the album's first officially released single and it went to No. 1 in the UK charts. The singles from the second album all included guest vocals from other rappers and singers. The third album is due to be released in 2014 and will contain more high-profile collaborations.
Professor Green has collaborated with many rappers, singers and producers, including Example, Emeli Sandé, Lily Allen, ThundaCatz, Ed Drewett, Dream McLean, Rinse, Ruth-Anne Cunningham, Sierra Kusterbeck and Ed Sheeran. Green toured with Lily Allen in 2009 and appeared with her at several festivals where they performed several tracks together. The collaborations are set to continue on his forthcoming album.
Despite being a relative newcomer, Professor Green has racked up a number of awards and nominations. In 2010 he won the Breakthrough Artist of the Year award at the BT Digital Music Awards. In the same year he also won an MOBO award for Best Hip Hop/Grime act. Nominations continued throughout 2011, with a win at the NME Awards for Jungle in the Best Dancefloor Filler category.
