By Michelle Tiwo
The British Eminem
His name is Professor Green. No, he isn’t actually a professor and Green is not his legal surname but many have been hailing him as the British Eminem and with the release of his second album At Your Inconvenience there’s a case to be made.
The album starts off with the gritty At Your Inconvenience, one of the first official singles, then smoothly move on to the body pumper D.P.M.O. – Don’t Piss Me Off (for those who don’t talk acronym).
With these two songs alone the hype is there and a lot of effort has to be taken not to type in ‘krumping’ in YouTube and give it a go yourself.
Read All About It featuring the fresh vocals of Emeli Sande brings it down a notch.
Seducing tips
Here the Eminem comparison is undeniable as Green takes us down a short but dark journey of his childhood.
The old school jungle/garage bass line of Trouble, where Green demonstrates his seducing tips, is followed by the zoned out mellowness of Spinning Out. Eminem here perhaps? More his alter ego Slim Shady.
And it’s only right to inject any album with some sexiness, which Green does wonderfully with a saucy dose of Remedy featuring up and comer Ruth-Anne Cunningham. Cue the hype police and How Many Moons drops a dubstep beat for you to turn the lights off and have your own one-man party.
Conscious and hard-hitting
By now you’ve only just reached the halfway point of the album, but if you’re still wondering why he’s being dubbed the British Eminem, then stop there. Tracks like Avalon, Never Be A Right Time and Into the Ground don’t do the 27-year-old any justice, in fact it might be better to pretend they’re not there.
Instead skip to the tracks Astronaut, Doll, Today I Cried, Nightmares and Forever Falling to hear the rappers more conscious and hard-hitting lyrics. From his short lived career as a drug-dealer to fighting off the haters, Green is nothing but sincere here.
In all honesty it’s not very fair to put anyone on a pedestal next to Eminem, a 13-time Grammy Award winner, who started rapping at the age of 14 and has been in the game for nearly two decades. Nevertheless the professor gives just the right amount of grit, fluff and openness to live up to it.
Give him his own credit
The track list organiser for this album should be commended for their skill as should Professor Green. Take him out of Mr Mathers’ shadow and give him his own credit. This is most definitely a winning second album from the East Londoner.
Professor Green will be at Banquet Records at 6pm on October 31 to promote the release of his new album. Tickets are available in store, so get down there ASAP. At Your Inconvience is released on the same day.