Professor Green

Stephen Paul Manderson (born 27 November 1983), better known by his stage name Professor Green or simply Pro Green, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, television personality and mental health activist from London.

Growing up on a council estate in Clapton, east London, Green went on to become a multi-platinum artist, with 3.5 million combined sales in the UK.

He is the former co-host of Lip Sync Battle UK on Channel 5.

His autobiography featured on the Times bestseller list, and he is the patron of the suicide prevention charity CALM.

Manderson's mother gave birth to him when she was 16 years old, splitting with the boy's father shortly after.

At six weeks old he required a pyloromyotomy operation to his stomach.

Manderson was raised by his grandmother, great-grandmother and uncles in a two bedroom flat on the Northwold housing estate in Clapton, Hackney, London, in a home which he describes as chaotic.

Green's great-grandmother Edie taught him to read and fed his intellectual curiosity as a child.

When she died it had a great impact on him as they were so close.

He sold cannabis as a youngster and smoked it on a daily basis between the ages of 16 and 24.

Although he was a bright student and dreamed of being a lawyer, he suffered from depression at the loss of his parents and he left Stoke Newington School in Clissold Road without any qualifications.

When Green was 24 years old his father died by suicide.

Green went to identify the corpse in the morgue.

He stopped using any drugs from that point to allow himself to process the death fully.

In 2006, Green released his first mixtape, Lecture #1.

He won the inaugural JumpOff MySpace £50,000 battle rap tournament in 2008.

After touring with Lily Allen, Green was signed to Virgin Records and in 2010, Green released his debut album, Alive Till I'm Dead.

His first pop single, "I Need You Tonight", peaked at number 3 in the UK, and number 15 in Ireland, and was certified silver in the United Kingdom.

He released his second single 'Just Be Good to Green', in 2010 in the UK, which featured British singer Lily Allen.

It became a top 5 hit in the UK, a top 20 hit in Ireland and on the European Hot 100 Singles.

It also peaked at #32 in New Zealand and #49 in Australia.

His album was released a week later, and peaked at #2 in the UK and #18 in Ireland.

He released Monster on 3 October 2010 as the third single from the album, featuring UK rapper Example (Elliot Gleave).

The single became a top 30 hit on the UK Singles Chart, and the album has been certificated Platinum with sales of over 300,000 in the United Kingdom.

In 2010 Green joined Lily Allen on stage at Wembley Stadium whilst supporting Muse, to perform her number one hit 'Smile', and 'Just Be Good To Green'.

In October 2010, Green released the video for his next single "Jungle", which features Maverick Sabre.

It was released on 3 January 2011 and reached #31 in the UK Singles Chart.

In 2011 Green was the first social ambassador for the clothing and footwear manufacturer brand Puma, focusing on the fashion and lifestyle side of the brand.

Green's second album, At Your Inconvenience, was released in October 2011.

The title track "At Your Inconvenience" was premiered by Zane Lowe on BBC Radio 1 on 13 July 2011.

That track was released as a promotional single only, as an instant download upon preorder of the album on iTunes.

The first official single, "Read All About It" (with guest vocals from Emeli Sandé), was released on 23 October 2011.

On 30 October 2011, it reached #1 in the UK Singles Chart.

The second single released from the album was "Never Be a Right Time", with guest vocals from Ed Drewett.

The EP featured remixes from Document One and Drums of London, and a remix of "How Many Moons" featuring fellow UK rappers Dream McLean and Rinse.

In October 2012, Puma launched an exclusive apparel collection designed by Green.

The "How Many Moons" remix premiered on Mistajam's show on 1Xtra in January 2012.

The third single released was "Remedy", featuring Ruth-Anne Cunningham.

A remix contest was hosted where producers could download the stems for the track and use them to create a remix.

The fourth single was "Avalon" featuring Sierra Kusterbeck, which appeared on an advert for the energy drink Relentless.