A Brief Lesson From Professor Green
These pop stars and their made-up job titles: who do they think they are, eh?
Mumford and Sons? Not a real shop. Lightspeed Champion? Normalspeed Person Of Mild Interest, more like. And the less said about Super Furry Animals the better (although they are pretty super...and quite furry I suppose...and their table manners are revolting, so...).
Where was I? Oh yes, it's a fine upstanding tradition in the world of music to give yourself a performance name based upon a rank or title. Sir Mixalot, for example. Or Saint Etienne. And now here's Professor Green, who hip hop fans will know for his mix tapes, impeccable freestyle skills and for winning more battle raps than most MCs put together.
But is he a real professor? And of what? We sent Anna Nathanson to find out.
(Unfortunately we chose a bad time to ask the questions. He'd had a big gig the night before and it was 10 am. No-one likes to be asked silly questions at such a ridiculous hour. When will we ever learn, eh readers?)
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HERE BEGINNETH THE LESSON
ChartBlog: Hey Prof! How are you today?
Professor Green: Recovering from last night!
ChartBlog: What's on the agenda for today?
Professor Green: I've got another interview after this, then I have a cab picking me up to take me to some television studios, and after that I've got meetings and a sound check for my gig tonight. Hopefully I'll find some time to eat too.
ChartBlog: What does Professor Green have for lunch?
Professor Green: Whatever I can grab in the two minutes I have to eat it. I try and stay away from fast food. I wouldn't say I like healthy food but I do try and eat it.
ChartBlog: What made you become a professor?
Professor Green: One of my mates actually, he gave me the name so that's his responsibility, it wasn't a choice of my own. It was when I was about 17 and I've been making music for about 8 years now.
ChartBlog: How come you're only in the charts now?
Professor Green: I don't think it's taken that long. If you look at most people who are charting at 21, they've been making music since they were 11 or 12.
ChartBlog: You're now signed to Virgin but you were with The Streets' label The Beats before. What happened there?
Professor Green: The set up wasn't ideal to be honest; it went under before my album came out. They had the best of intentions but the label wasn't set up very well.
ChartBlog:If you were a real professor, what would you teach?
Professor Green: Biology.
ChartBlog: If the music industry were a school, who would be your star pupil and who would you expel?
Professor Green: I don't really want to answer that!
ChartBlog: Really? What about your star pupil? That won't get you into trouble...
Professor Green: I think that's the worst one! I don't look at anyone in the game as my pupil.
ChartBlog: You've been on tour with Lily Allen, Gym Class Heroes and Plan B, what's the most interesting thing you've learnt from them?
Professor Green: I learnt how to handle my alcohol.
ChartBlog: As a seasoned battle MC, what would be lesson number 1 on how to rap?
Professor Green: Make sure your flow is tidy - you have to be on the beat and smooth. You also have to make sure you're saying something. No point having a nice flow if you're not saying nothing.
ChartBlog: Can you give us a quick freestyle on a subject of your choice?
Professor Green: It has to be the right time - you can't just switch it on and off.
HERE ENDETH THE LESSON
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Your ChartBlog interviewer: Anna Nathanson
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