Since releasing his first studio album, ‘Alive Till I’m Dead’ back in 2010, rapper Professor Green has achieved a string of hits collaborating with established and rising stars, as well as headlining tours and gracing the main stages at some of the UK’s biggest festivals and picking up a raft of accolades and awards nominations. Now following the release of his third album, ‘Growing Up In Pubilc’, the star is back on the road and preparing to bring his latest show to the Liverpool stage. We caught up with him ahead of his city performance to find out more about his all-conquering career so far.

How did you start out as a rapper? Is it true that it’s something you accidentally got into?

All my mates had been making music since we were 12 or 13 and I never did. I never really had any kind of artistic expression at all; I couldn’t draw, I couldn’t paint, I couldn’t play any instruments. I loved music though and I always listened to music from when I was really young. I was 18 at the time and everyone was just freestyling at my friend’s house and I got put on the spot and I rapped a lyric as a joke and everyone was like ‘what, you can rap?’ and I was like ‘naaah mate!’ but I just started messing around with it from there.

So how have you since progressed to writing your own lyrics? Do you feel like you end up giving a lot away about yourself through your writing?

Yeah but I think all the best artists that I really favoured, and still do favour, always did.

I don’t really question [where my ideas come from]. They come when they come and they don’t when they don’t, and it’s a pain when they don’t and I’m trying to write something! I think there’s so much to write about. I can never understand when people say they’ve run out of ideas, I can understand them not being able to write about a certain topic at a certain point as sometimes you’ve just got to be in the right mood and sometimes you’re not. There’s so much to talk about though isn’t there? So much happens from day to day. I don’t have any particular influences; it’s definitely just the case that it’s an amalgamation of everything.

You’ve worked on a lot of collaborations, with people like Emile Sande who have achieved a lot of success after appearing on one of your records to the likes of Lily Allen. What do you look for in a collaborator, and do you aim to work with rising talent?

I don’t really look to people for what they’ve achieved or haven’t, it’s not really about that. It’s just about whether someone’s cool and if the talent’s there. I’m not a singer but I love melody in songs so I write but I can’t sing, and it makes sense to get someone to sing them. I wouldn’t want to sacrifice the melody in the music for the sake of not working with people.

You recently released your third album, Growing Up in Public. Do you feel pressure when you’re working on an album now given that your first previous records have had a lot of chart success?

No because it’s always dependent on how you react to it and the support you get and the planets lining up because so much of it is out of your hands – from that minute you deliver it to the record label it’s not really yours anymore because it becomes everyone else’s and how they take to it is really down to them. It’s weird because if I never got playlisted on the radio then half of the people who might love the records would never even hear them. You never know what’s going to happen, you can’t really count your chickens before they hatch and I don’t think it’s smart to even have expectations. You can have hopes but I think it’s just best to try and manage your expectations and see what happens.

You’re bringing your current tour to Liverpool in the coming weeks. Are you looking forward to getting back on stage in the city?

Yeah, I love Liverpool. Liverpool’s is one of my favourite cities outside of London and I used to spend a bit of time there. It’s the crowd, the vibe and good people, you have lovely people!

For you, how does the live experience compare to the studio experience?

They’re just completely different parts of something that I love. I love them both for completely different reasons.

It’s lovely to come up with an idea in the studio, when you come up with a lyric that makes you shake your hands with excitement. And then on stage it’s completely different because you’re getting to perform those lyrics that you’ve come up with and see the effects that they have on people straight in front of you.

You’ve got a massive presence on social media, with millions of Facebook and Twitter followers. Is that a way that you enjoy connecting with your fans?

Yeah, I guess so. It’s something I’ve been doing since MySpace and I used to blog a lot so it’s just been a natural thing for me.

From chart and award success to tours and high profile performances, you’ve achieved a lot in the time you’ve been releasing records. Is there anything you’d still really like to achieve?

I still feel like I need to establish myself, I don’t feel like I’m established yet even. I just want to keep working and putting out my music and keep being able to tour.

What are your plans beyond this latest tour and album?

I’m in the studio working on new stuff already. I don’t want there to be a gap between this one and the next one, I want to do this like I did the first two albums. The live side of music is quite a lot shorter now, but I’d like my music to travel and I’d like to travel with it as well so that we’ve got probably the best chance we’ve had thus far with this record to go to other places. We’ve had success in some places, like we did well in Italy and we did well in Australia but I’d like to see us spread a bit further.

Professor Green will bring his ‘Growing Up In Public’ tour to O2 Academy Liverpool on 1 December. For tickets and information visit www.professorgreen.co.uk

Related posts:

The Script interview Circa Waves at O2 Academy review High Flyer: Interview with Fatboy Slim Thurston Moore interview: Sonic Youth frontman talks to Your Move ahead of Liverpool gig Jarvis Cocker to introduce ‘The Liverpool Mass’ at cathedral celebration Nathan Carter interview: Liverpool-born Irish music star