Q&A Professor Green

After a serious road accident Professor Green spent months injured and unable to write. He reflects on that time now he’s back on the road with dates
in Liverpool, 1 Dec, and Manchester, 5 Dec.

You recently got married, turned 30 and put out Growing Up In Public. Is it the start of a new chapter?
I am where I am largely because of my own decisions (and a few decisions made by others which are entirely out of my control therefore not worth worrying about). I always worry that changing anything in the past no matter how small could have meant missing out on so much. As far as a new chapter, well, a new one of those begins every day.

How has your road accident and spending months injured affected you?
It wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had. I’m a very active person and at my best when I’m busy – being off my feet and out of my mind off painkillers was a nightmare. I couldn’t write under those circumstances – that’s what really pushed the album back. Luckily, through a lot of very painful rehabilitation, I was able to perform at Glastonbury, which was incredible. I was also able to walk down the aisle.

This album has a chorus of collaborators. How does the process vary?
Most of the writing was done before the featured artists were approached. I enjoy working with others though. It’s interesting to see how differently we all work and also what happens when you have to compromise (not on quality) to reach the end goal as ultimately you all want the same thing – a great song.

How do you know you are going to work well with someone and is there anyone you’ve collaborated with that you really jarred with creatively?
You have no idea to be fair – Skream is one of my best friends and in all our years of friendship we still haven’t managed to do a song together. That’s quite jarring.

You do a bit more singing on this album. Was that something you set out to explore?
I’ve always sung on my albums – I just took it a teeny-weeny bit more seriously on this one due to the songs I ended up singing on. I’ll always experiment with different ways of using my voice and will definitely do more of it. Don’t worry though – I’ll leave the ballads to Emeli and Tori.

ANTONIA CHARLESWORTH