Alive Till I'm Dead

Young, promising and talented Professor Green

London-based rapper Professor Green is probably one of the brightest artists of the future. Stephen Paul Manderson is 26 years old, and he has been rapping for the last eight of them. The young and talented performer has won more than one rap battle the biggest of which was JumpOff MySpace in 2008, Manderson got an award of £50000 for the first place. No doubt, his voice with rather a high timber, belonging to the white race, charisma and the childhood hardships (the boy saw his parents extremely rarely and got raised by his now late grandmother) have aroused comparisons with Eminem almost automatically. In fact, Professor Green is close on the heels of his American colleague although his serious creative path is only at the beginning and Slim Shady has got a huge experience and an impressive story behind his back. Nevertheless Manderson’s debut album Alive Till I’m Dead can make Eminem nervous and the draw the audience’s careful attention to the younger, promising and undoubtedly no less talented Professor Green.

12 dynamic tracks on Alive Till I’m Dead

The album Alive Till I’m Dead offers 12 dynamic tracks that can be classified as rap with the elements of pop music in its best traditions: there are some memorable tunes here and rather light arrangements as well as heavier moments. At the most the album’s pop side is given to the disposal of guest performers whereas Professor Green remains a severe rapper, yet not devoid of sense of humor, sometimes sullen and sometimes kind-hearted. The record opens with the song Kids That Love To Dance featuring Emeli Sande with all the chances to become a hit in clubs and at home parties. Number two finds Professor Green and Lilly Allen singing Just Be Good To Green – it is a very contagious remake of The SOS Band’s song Just Be Good to Me popular in the 1980s. Another example of working with an old song is the track I Need You Tonight (featuring Ed Drewett) built on the sample of the eponymous INXS’ composition. Manderson’s vocals can be heard on such numbers as City Of Gold, Do For You and Falling Down, performed without other artists, and those, too, are great compositions with amazingly contagious beats. A more serious work with Labrinth, Oh My God, built on a tough electric guitar is made in a heavier key, while Example adds his trademark electric sound to the grotesque track Monster. A darkish composition Closing The Door featuring Fink pleases with a splendid bass line, and the album closer Goodnight is a dedication to the artist’s late grandmother.

Interesting and unexpected rhymes, emotions and toughness

No matter what comparisons we make while considering Professor Green’s creative work the singer himself just keeps doing what he can do and does it really well. He writes good verses, the producers’ team helps him create harmonious and ultra contemporary arrangements, and the guest vocalists add charm and variety to these compositions. Naturally the main character of each story on Alive Till I’m Dead is Professor Green himself who has a lot to share with his listeners. He writes interesting and unexpected rhymes and fills his stories with emotions and toughness at the same time. Of course the artist takes most of the plots from his own life which is already quite rich in events. For instance the story with the tattoo ‘Lucky’ on Manderson’s neck is interesting – he got stabbed in the neck with a knife just in two weeks after he made it, and the injury proved to be not too dangerous. On the whole listening to Alive Till I’m Dead one cannot help thinking of what the rapper is going to offer us in the nearest future – an enormous potential sounds in these tracks, he will surely get to realizing it now and, hopefully, with a right speed.