Professor Green

Stephen Manderson, who goes by Professor Green, had a troubled childhood and was mostly raised by his grandmother in East London. He didn't start rapping until he was 18, initially freestyling simply for fun at parties, but this proved so popular that he started entering and winning rap competitions. He made a big impact with his witty rhymes at London's JumpOff, going on to win the inaugural JumpOff MySpace £50,000 battle rap tournament.

Dubbed Professor Green by DJ Jonah D after a jam session when he rapped about plants, he released his first mixtape, 'Lecture #1' in 2006 and toured with The Streets. He also toured with Lily Allen and later collaborated with her on the single 'Just Be Good to Green'. His breakthrough came in 2010 with the hit single 'I Need You Tonight', produced by The ThundaCatz and sampling a 1987 INXS hit. His 2010 debut solo album 'Alive Till I'm Dead', which included a collaboration with Example on the single 'Monster', put him in the front line of UK rap, reaching number two in the UK Albums Chart. He followed it by being crowned Best Hip Hop Act at the same year's MOBO Awards.

Follow-up album 'At Your Inconvenience' arrived in 2011 and included the single 'Read All About It' featuring Emeli Sandé, which went to number one on the UK Singles Chart. Third studio album 'Growing Up in Public' was released in 2014 and contains the singles 'Little Secrets' featuring Mr Probz and 'Lullaby' featuring Tori Kelly.

In 2015 Professor Green's autobiography 'Lucky' was published before he presented a documentary for BBC Three called 'Suicide and Me'. He also became the patron of the suicide prevention charity CALM, aimed specifically at reducing the suicide rate amongst young men. He has since presented a number of documentaries highlighting issues such as poverty and homelessness. 2019 saw the arrival of EP 'Matters of the Heart' which was accompanied by a supporting UK tour.