If you’re into your UK battle rap and you haven’t heard of Professor Green you must have been under a rock. We catch up with him to talk about the infamous Jin battle, the UK scene compared to that in America, what he’s going to be up to this year and also about Egg Yolks. Intrigued? Read on!
Professor Green, you’re one of the most well known British battle rappers, competing in many competitions over the past few years. How did you first get into the battle circuit?
I saw a poster by Farringdon for Lyric Pad, and I told my peoples and we wandered down there. I think it was either a Tuesday or Thursday night. I battled there, and to my surprise, I won! The rest is, to coin a cliché, history!
Professor Green
Was there a big scene where you grew up? You were brought up in Hackney if my memory serves me well! Has that got a big hip hop culture?
In the early days it was Ragga and jungle. Don’t get me wrong, hip hop was always big as well. After that came garage, and then that was followed by grime. It was all prominent, apart from with the orthodox Jews in Upper Clapton, they prefer dubstep.
Ha! You also battled some of the biggest US MC’s in your time as well, including acclaimed battler Jin. Did you feel any pressure before battling him, or did you approach him like any other opponent?
In the Bahamas I was cool with it, although I wasn’t in the best headspace after all the fuckery that went on when I was battling Serius. You can hear in the audio clip that I get stopped half way through a verse for some bullshit reason. They made up a new rule half way through my verse. Apparently we had to stay on our own sides of the ring… that threw me off a little. It was also bullshit that Jin only had to battle whoever got to the final. The rest of us had qualified to be there, and he should have been in the mix from the beginning, no one should only have to battle once for £50k!
Definitely! That does seem a bit unfair. Do you think that has anything to do with the difference in exposure? The US scene is undeniably bigger than the UK scene, do you see that ever changing?
Professor Green in Amsterdam
Nah I don’t. Our country is the size of an American state, it is just not possible. It’s always going to relate to more people over there in the States because it’s where hip hop came from originally. I was over in Miami recently and the vibe in hip hop clubs over there is completely different, even the men dance! Everyone knows every word to every song… the vibe’s insane! That said, we’re definitely making moves as artists into their scene!
Yeah, there’s a lot of activity on the UK scene at the moment. Which artists are you listening to?
In all honesty I’m so busy right now that I’m not listening to much! I also tend to listen to other types of music for inspiration when I’m writing. I listen to a lot of singer-songwriters and a lot of atmospheric stuff. I think N-Dubz are killing it, Tinchy’s killing it, they’re both killing it together! Dizzee’s gone more dance but it’s working, I’m not on the ‘he’s not grime anymore’ bandwagon. He always made dance music, he’s just more obvious about it now. I’ve heard some interesting Streets stuff recently, it’s like the old vibe with a more intricate flow. I think whats changed is I’m not really watching the underground so much. I can’t be dealing with hearing about cyborgs and the like, I can’t relate, UK Hip Hop wise I mean. Ghetts is on fire, Wretch 32 is fucked, Scorcher’s flying, Bashy and Tinie are moving. The good artists are pushing hard. I’m excited to get involved again after such a long hiatus.
Of course you were signed to The Streets label at one time, and what followed after that folded was you couldn’t get your masters back. Those seemed a pretty rubbish time back then! Did that inspire you to come back with a vengeance?
It just made me push. I got my masters back in the end and all is rosy. That’s old now, and I’m not a bitter person. If I was to look back now it just means that I miss what’s ahead, and that’s not my ting.
Cool, so you did move ahead and release The Green EP. What’s the response to that been like?
It’s been amazing to be honest. I’ve found my sound now. Obviously that’ll change with time but right now I’m comfortable with where I’m at creatively. Adele even got in touch to thank me for using her song and to say how much she loved what I did with it! I thought that was amazing of her! The only problem was not being able to clear that and the intro ‘Don’t Let Go’ so it had to be a pretty low level release. People are beginning to hear it now and I’ve not heard a bad word about it which is good!
Adele’s definitely talented! Have you got any plans to do anything original with her?
I do know that she is really busy but I do hope that we can get a chance to work together before my albums done! I think that we could produce something massive sat in the studio together!
Is that what’s going to follow the EP? There’s a lot of buzz surrounding the album from what I’m hearing!
Nah, ‘Lecture #2’ is going to be a free download. There will be a CD version I’m sure, but I’m happy just to get people up to date with where I’m at now and let them enjoy the music for the moment. June 8th is the ‘Hard Night Out’ CDs, ‘Lecture #2’ will follow that. I’m thinking about just hitting hard with singles this year to be honest, the album can come next year! I’m looking at everything that I do between now and the album as promo. All I was ever missing was consistency and product, now I have an abundance of material, therefore consistency will not be an issue. I’m not stopping until i get there now!
Big! So, where can we check you out then, where can we get all the latest news from Professor Green?
http://www.professorgreen.co.uk currently goes to my MySpace but that’s changing shortly. So, I’ll say that there is your best bet for now! There will be lots of new shit shortly though!
Have you got any words for our readers?
Egg Yolk has no goodness in it but it tastes damn good.
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