theCool Meets: Professor Green

Written by Elizabeth Taiwo

We caught up with Professor Green, the new ‘PUMA Social’ lifestyle ambassador Professor Green, a title which came as surprise to even the man himself as a self-proclaimed lay-about. The Professor and I sat down at Shoreditch’s Book Club and spoke about healthy competition, Adele, sleepless nights and second album worries.

I’m sure you’ve had many spokesperson offers in the past, what exactly made you decide to take up PUMA’s offer?

“Well I was a bit apprehensive at first with it being a sportswear brand because I thought it meant I had to pretend that I’m really sporty, which I’m not, but then when I had I chance to sit down with the people at PUMA I realised the role is mostly about being a leader which is something that I’ve always been passionate about, and it’s all about the ‘after hours athlete’ which is exactly what I am.

Plus it’s Puma, it’s not exactly a chore wearing their clothes, it’s not like they’re Kappa or something and it’s also helped me too, it’s allowed me to do things I’ve never done before; I’ve been able to do free intimate gigs for the fans whilst working with them and I’ll be opening the new Footasylum in Westfeilds Stratford City too, so it’s given me opportunities to do things I wouldn’t have been able to do”

What do you think about the link between Streetwear brands and urban music. Nowadays you often see big  brands like Puma & Addidas being heavily immersed with the UK Undergorund scene supporting upcoming artists before they make it big, what effect do you think this has had on the scene?

“There’s always been a strong connection between the two, music and fashion go hand in hand, so I think it’s a good thing. The record labels seem to be more inept and the clothes brands seem to be more in touch with the streets than a lot of the labels, they’re more concerned with your connection with the music than your chart success.”

Speaking of success, the  UK Urban Scene overall has changed a lot over the past few years, it’s crazy how you can’t look at the Top 10 without seeing an Urban song or artist making some sort of presence.  It’s all managed to change so quickly even this time two years ago I don’t think a lot of the artists out there would have imagined this would have happened.

“Yeah, it’s crazy. The good thing is it’s a lot of like minded people doing well, there’s no longer, well at least between us, that “crab in the barrel”  mentality, it does’t exist any more. It’s not the case like before where someone would get through a door and close the door behind them, we’re all holding the doors open and with that hopefully it’ll create a foundation that’ll stand strong for many years to come.”

Yeah, I think back then you’d see a lot of MC’s make it big and not really want to help other people other than one or people they came up with now it’s really seems to have changed.

“Yeah, If you look at America, the reason their scenes so healthy, I mean the music’s become a bit stagnant but everyone works with everyone and because of that it makes it more exciting and keeps it more interesting, it’s good to hear different people work together you get a different vibe. When an MC works with another MC or artist it brings something different out of them, it defiantly brings the best out of them because they obviously want to be the best on that song, now healthy competition’s always good.”

So is that why you did ‘Game Over’?

“Nah, well it was defiantly one of the reasons behind it.”

So you’ve worked with a lot of artists, who in the UK do you want to work with next, anyone that’s caught you eye?

“Well I’ve worked with Esme Sanders on the first record and a few times on this one, apart from that  I guess Adele, I’m sure everyone wants to work with Adele.”

What about any up- and- coming artists, anyone you’ve seen that you want to jump on a track with?

If I ever get time in schedule, I’m doing a verse on a Tru Blue track  and also with Bashy, every time I book studio something pops up, it’s a mad time for me with the album promo I’ve got a crazy schedule , I’ve got a list book of ideas I need to get produced that I’ve not even been able to start work on because I’ve not been able to get time. I’ve had a run of bad health too, I keep on getting tonsillitis so any downtime I get I have to use it rest but that’s the late nights and early mornings!

Well at least you know what you’ve got to do to get yourself sorted!

“Yeah it’s all about finding time … I’m a bad sleeper in general, even when I do get to bed early I guarantee I’ll be up by 4am going ‘What, what do I do now’ but that’s just the nature of the beast though. But what’s kinda helped is talking to other people on a similar kind of promo trail; Example for one, and he just said ‘He never runs at 100% anymore’ and it was almost you know, not that I was happy to hear him say that cause it’s not good for him but it was refreshing to know I’m not the only one you know.”

As much as you want to give it your all, you have to try and draw a line because you can end up giving all of yourself and that can start to take away from you as person.

“Yeah it really does take it’s toll I know you hear people say it, not to complain at all but it’s a lot of work you know. If I’m doing promo on TV at 8am in the morning and I’m on stage at 2am in Newcastle in some club where is there room to sleep there ?”

Speaking of promo, your next album ‘At Your Convenience’ is out in a few weeks, how’s it different from your debut album?

“Erm, you know what, it’s a progression defiantly, people will be able to hear that in the sound, the foundations are still the same, there’s still the same side of me in this record but I’d say they all go a little bit deeper and it’s a broader record, it’s 15 tracks and I’ve had a lot more input on the production side of things. Even down to the artwork for it, it was all my idea, the [Read All About It] video which I helped to write the treatment for, it’s a much more cohesive project and I think more than the first record, this is the record I’m going to be judged on and I’m happy to have had such input and also to have had a record label that believes in me enough to allowed me to make a record that I wanted to make, again.”

I think the second album is probably the hardest because your first album kinds of shows everybody a little bit about who you then you have to show you’re able to progress whilst still staying true to yourself.

“Exactly but you know what everyone always has a nightmare second album, I mean I don’t know what it’s gonna do, I have no idea how’s it gonna be received but I’ve not had a hard time making it, what’s been hard is not being able to spend that much time in the studio because of touring commitments and promo and everything that comes with it so I’ve had to make the days I’ve had in the studio count but I think with that pressure I’ve made the best record I possibly could”

So what have you got planned for the rest of the year, is it just album promo?

“Haha, I could almost tell you it day by day, it’s pretty intense, the first single comes out October 21st, the album comes out on the 31st, my tour begins on the 28th [October] in Ireland and from that point I’m on tour till December”

Wow, so you’ve defiantly got a busy couple of months, and you spent most of your summer at festivals too.

“Yeah, it literally hasn’t stopped which is a good thing, it could be easy to complain about it but if it did stop I wouldn’t know what to do with myself so long may it continue.”

What has been you’re favourite festival this summer that you’ve either performed at or watched from the sidelines?

“Glastonbury was wicked, V was incredible both Stafford and Chelmsford, Norfolk spectacular which  was it’s first year and also the last festival I did this summer, I didn’t know what to expect with it being the first one but the crowd were mental”

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The ‘PUMA Social’ campaign continues for Autumn Winter 11 celebrating the after-hours athlete, with Professor Green their first ever lifestyle ambassador.  Check out the Puma Facebook for more info on the campaign as well as a chance to win tickets to his secret gig this Wednesday.

Green’s second Album, ‘At Your Convenience’ is out in the UK on October 28th.