Line-up

Headliner
Professor Green Last time in Birmingham: 3 weeks ago

Venue

O2 Institute2 Birmingham

78 Digbeth High St, B5 6DY, Digbeth, UK

www.academymusicgroup.com/o2institutebirmingham/on-o2

Capacity: 600

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Additional details

Doors open: 19:00

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Professor Green biography

Professor Green (born November 27, 1983) is the stage name of Stephen Paul Manderson, an English rapper and singer-songwriter from Hackney, London, UK.

Raised by his grandmother in Hackney, North East London, Manderson’s rap excursions began more by chance than choice. At a friend’s house party where everybody was freestyling he was put on the spot and something clicked. After seeing an advert for a freestyle event call LyricPad, Manderson decided to attend and ended up winning the freestyle contest seven times consecutively. As a result a scout from JumpOff spotted the rapper through which Mike Skinner of The Streets came across Manderson and signed him to his label The Beats.

After getting stabbed in the neck by a broken bottle in 2009, the rapper released his debut single “I Need You Tonight” in April 2010. The single peaked at No. 3 on the UK’s Singles Chart and was followed by the No. 5 hit single featuring Lily Allen “Just Be Good to Green”. The singles supported his debut album “Alive Till I’m Dead” (2010) which peaked at No. 2 in the albums chart, released through Virgin Records after The Beats label dissolved.

2010 saw the rapper win MTV Europe Music Awards’ ‘Best Push Act’ award, a MOBO award for Best Hip Hop/Grime Act and BT Digital Music Award for Breakthrough Artist of the Year. Manderson also received a string of nominations including MOBO’s Best Newcomer and Best Song and three at the Urban Music Awards for Best Newcomer, Best Hip-Hop Act and Best Song (I Need You Tonight).

Manderson’s second album “At Your Inconvenience” released in October 2011 was led by the single of the same name, first premiered on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show. The subsequent single “Read All About It” with guest vocals from Emeli Sandé, reached the No. 1 spot in the UK Singles Chart and brought Manderson’s signature hip-hop/grime mix to the popular mainstream.

On September 22, 2013 Professor Green released his long-awaited third studio album “Growing Up in Public” again through Virgin Records. The album features collaborations with artists Tori Kelly, Example, Mr Probz and Rizzle Kicks and the singles “Lullaby” and “Little Secrets”.

Live reviews

Professor Green is a UK rapper and hip hop and grime performer with a witty lyrical talent and an impressive freestyle reputation.
Back in 2010 I saw Professor Green at the Staffordshire V Festival. The gig occurred shortly after the release of ‘Alive Until I’m Dead,’ at the peak of the hype around ‘I Need to You Tonight’ and ‘Just be Good to Green.’ The onus was on Green to prove to the mainstream crowd that he was capable of producing more than a couple of hit singles. Indeed, I’d been especially keen to see the rapper perform, and had had work hard to persuade some of my more indie friends to join me by the stage. Delightfully, the Green-sceptics were soon proved wrong.
Pro delivered one of the festival’s most impressive performances. Green and co were obviously having a great time on stage, and their attitude was infectious. Despite the early 12.30pm slot and an unfortunately-timed bout of rain, the audience were jumping. Literally. The whole crowd bounced and waved along in unison to ‘Jungle.’
Green ended the set with an energetic rendition of his debut single ‘I Need You Tonight,’ which that April had peaked in the UK Chart at number three. It was a real crowd-pleaser and the crowd needed little of Professor Green’s encouragement to sing and dance along.

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