Professor Green was in danger of becoming a hanger-on at his own party when ‘Read All About It’ catapulted Emeli Sande, his little known guest vocalist, to international stardom (and a high profile spot at the London Olympics closing ceremony).
He has obviously watched Sande’s progress with interest because his third album constitutes a quite shameless bid for further chart success. The production is bright and bouncy; every song seems to culminate in a soaring hook and flurry of beats.
Early in his career, Green – aka 30 year old Stephen Manderson – was pitched as South London’s answer to Eminem. That designation owed more to his hard-scrabble upbringing (“Professor Green” was his handle as a marijuana dealer) than his music, and here his rapping takes a back seat, with guest vocalists such as Tori Kelly (‘Lullaby’) and Whinnie Williams (‘Can’t Dance Without You’) slapping on a thick overcoat of feel-good gloop.
That’s possibly a good thing. Lyrically, Manderson has fallen for the old cliche of griping about fame. Married to a reality TV star and unable, in certain neighbourhoods of London at least, to leave the house without being assailed by paparazzi, he is eager for you to know what a drag his life occasionally is.
Of course, this isn’t a particularly sophisticated or original message and, once made, he really ought to move on to something more interesting. Alas, Manderson circles back again and again to the burden of celebrity. It’s just as well he’s got those big, glittering hooks to distract the listener. Without them, what an ordeal this record might have been.