He was signed to The Beats, a record label run by Mike Skinner and Ted Mayhem from 2006 until 12 February 2008, when the label terminated. He rose to success upon winning the inaugural JumpOff MySpace £50,000 battle rap tournament in July 2008. Following this in 2009, Manderson worked with Lily Allen on her 2009 concert tour.
Growing up on the Northwold estate in Upper Clapton, Green's familial situation saw him being raised by his grandmother while he traded up school attendance for just hanging on the estate, like kids do. The Read All About It Songfacts reports that he had a turbulent relationship with his father, who was rarely around during Manderson's childhood and committed suicide in 2008. In his hit single, Read All About It, Green responds to accusations made by his stepmother that his debut album, Alive Till I'm Dead, was "cashing-in" on his death.
While the usual nefarious stories of low budget living played a part in his life, Green's formative years were also characterised by fun: skating was big on the estate, etc. He also had an early inkling that the art of verbal sparring would somehow play a part in his life, confessing how, he always wanted to be a barrister or a lawyer. "I like debates and I've always been argumentative, I think that's helped me in battles a lot."
However, while becoming obsessed with hip-hop at the age of nine "Biggie [[artist]The Notorious B.I.G.] is my greatest hip-hop influence", Green only switched up from passive fan to active participant at a relatively late stage. After turning 18 years old, he coined his first rhyme completely off-the-cuff when put on the spot at an impromptu freestyle jam session round a friends house. Passing the test with aplomb and impressing his music making peers, the underground rap battle scene suddenly opened up before him.
After seeing a poster advertising a rap battle at the Lyric Pad night in London, Green turned up and won. From that he graduated to competing at the prestigious Jump Off events, performing at venues like The Scala and Sound in Leicester Square, and becoming the first ever contestant to win six straight weekly finals in a row. While his seventh showdown ended in defeat, he returned undeterred, put together a second run of consecutive victories and became the first string seven wins together. Throw in a further series of seven straight wins and a dalliance with pay battles, and Green became a man to fear on the battle circuit.
Cue a change of scene and a flight to the exotic climes of the Bahamas to spar for $50,000.
Entering the Power Summit battle against America's finest freestyle icons (think 8 Mile but with no holds barred), the crowd may have first viewed Green as this white English kid who's not going to do anything, but his gift of gab and ability to coin scathing punchlines saw him through to the final where he faced Jin, a member of DMXs much amped Ruff Ryders camp. The judges decided in Jin's favour, although with the Ruff Ryder man having been given a bye to the final and Green having already been through seven prior knockout bouts (including taking out representatives from Eminem's Shady Records camp), by his own admission it was "more a case of me losing it as opposed to Jin winning it."
Still, with a crowd featuring US big rap guns like Busta Rhymes and Saigon, Green made a name for himself and in September went off to Hawaii to compete in the battle again.
A performance at the B-Boy Championships last summer ultimately paid greater dividends and opened him up to a new audience in Mike Skinner of The Streets fame.
"Mike approached me after the B-Boy Championships and wanted to bring me on tour with The Streets" he recalls. I ended up doing an opening battle on the tour and we formed a great relationship from that. At first it wasn't about me looking for a record deal though it was more a case of us deciding to lay down some tracks and seeing where it went.
At the end of April 2006 he signed on the dotted line to release his debut album on Skinner's The Beats label. And while UK hip-hop's profile is certainly in the ascendancy thanks to acts like Skinnyman, Sway and Kano, Green has his eyes on breaking out beyond the usual urban tag affixed to British rappers.
Name-checking Portishead, Radiohead, Tracy Chapman and Suzanne Vega as song-writing influences, Green is well aware of the importance of adapting his lyrics from the immediacy of the live battle circuit to cater to the depth of the album format.
"The thing with hip-hop is if you take a lot of rap songs outside of rap then they aren't great songs, whereas with something like country if you take them outside of the genre then the song-writing skills are still incredible, he rationalises. And I'd like to take those skills into rap."
So while never completely leaving behind the entertaining punchlines that have characterised his battle persona, the album will take in everything from songs about his estranged parents to wish lists of things to do before he passes away and the plight of the average stereotypical man in the eyes of the average stereotypical female (see Stereotypical Man, complete with the catchphrase "'Til my breathings done I'll be reading page three of The Sun").
As Green concludes of his new goals "I wouldn't be happy to sell just 30,000 copies of my album. I don't think that there's anything wrong with aiming above that, giving people an album they can relate to, and wanting to be successful."
Fast Life
Professor Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I'll probably never see her again
I can't remember what I did last night
When behind the shades is the only place you can hide
And your waking thought is more often than not where am I?
Still pissed, and a half-empty bottle of liquor's
The only liquid you can find
And all you wanna do is chill, baby hold onto
Something that you can feel
That ain't too much to ask for, is it?
When you no longer look like the you in your passport picture
All you wanna do is turn over and find her
Normally turn over and you find her
But this time I turned over and I found you
Though we might not get to know what this might amount to
I just woke up next to this chick who I don't know
And I'll probably never see her again
I can't remember what I did last night
Let alone last weekend
I'd always wanted to live the fast life
'Til it started speeding up
Now I'm here living the fast life
Good luck keeping up
A life that went from canap's to classic champagne
Cocktails to cigarette butts and champagne flutes
Rolled up notes, a few lines of coke
One hell of a headache and two piles of clothes
Room full of smoke, eyes full of sleep
A plane I've gotta catch and a bed I don't wanna leave
I don't wanna leave you, I wanna wake you
But I should let you sleep through, you look so peaceful
Tiptoeing as I'm rushing to get my things together
Too many pieces of puzzles for me to piece together
Maybe I'll leave a letter, in the hope that
When she wakes, she remembers me and that we fell asleep together
But likely she remembered nothing
Woke up in a rush and huffing at how Stephen kept her knocking
Grabbed her things, didn't see the letter, let alone open it
Stepped over it on her way out and never even noticed it
I just woke up next to this chick who I don't know
And I'll probably never see her again
I can't remember what I did last night
Let alone last weekend
I'd always wanted to live the fast life
'Til it started speeding up
Now I'm here living the fast life
Good luck keeping up
I just woke up next to this chick who I don't know
And I'll probably never see her again
I can't remember what I did last night
Let alone last weekend
I'd always wanted to live the fast life
'Til it started speeding up
Now I'm here living the fast life
Good luck keeping up
The song, "Fast Life" by Professor Green, is a reflective piece that portrays an individual who has become trapped in the fast-paced life of partying and excess. The lyrics describe the singer waking up next to a stranger and not being able to recall what he did the night before, let alone the weekend prior. The chorus expresses his desire to live the fast life but acknowledges the difficulty of keeping up with it. The song delves deeper into the struggle of being caught up in the allure of living fast and trying to sustain that lifestyle without being consumed by it. The lyrics touch upon the concept of time slipping away and the importance of holding onto the things that matter.
The song's sincerity and introspection are highlighted by the vivid imagery of the fast life, which is both exciting and dangerous. The singer's accounts of his experiences with excess and consumption are powerful and harsh reminders of the consequences of the fast life. The song also touches on the vulnerability of the individuals who live this fast life, who find themselves in situations they cannot control.
Overall, "Fast Life" is a thought-provoking song that highlights the challenges of trying to find balance and stability while living a fast-paced and high-octane lifestyle that is difficult to maintain.
Line by Line Meaning
I just woke up next to this chick who I don't know
Waking up beside an unknown woman, and most likely not seeing her again.
And I'll probably never see her again
The likelihood of not seeing the woman again after waking up next to her.
I can't remember what I did last night
Inability to recall the activities from the previous night.
When behind the shades is the only place you can hide
Hiding behind sunglasses to conceal oneself from the public.
And your waking thought is more often than not where am I?
Frequently questioning one's location upon waking up.
Still pissed, and a half-empty bottle of liquor's
Feeling angry and upset, with an unfinished bottle of alcohol as the only available drink.
The only liquid you can find
The sole drink option being what is left of the alcohol.
Too busy to reminisce over a time when you have time
Being too occupied to reflect on past events when there is free time.
And all you wanna do is chill, baby hold onto
Wanting to relax and find comfort in something or someone.
Something that you can feel
Looking for a tangible source of comfort.
That ain't too much to ask for, is it?
Asking if finding comfort is too much of a demand.
When you no longer look like the you in your passport picture
Looking different from one's official photo identification.
All you wanna do is turn over and find her
Wanting to go back to sleep and see the woman again.
Normally turn over and you find her
Typically seeing the woman when turning over in bed.
But this time I turned over and I found you
Finding someone else in bed instead of the usual woman.
Though we might not get to know what this might amount to
Uncertainty about the outcome of the situation.
I'd always wanted to live the fast life
Yearning for a lifestyle filled with excitement and recklessness.
'Til it started speeding up
The fast life becoming too intense and overwhelming.
Now I'm here living the fast life
Currently living the desired fast life.
Good luck keeping up
A sarcastic remark indicating the difficulty of maintaining the wild lifestyle.
A life that went from canap's to classic champagne
Transitioning from fancy snacks to expensive champagne.
Cocktails to cigarette butts and champagne flutes
Drinking alcohol and using cigarettes as a stress relief method.
Rolled up notes, a few lines of coke
Taking drugs in the form of rolled-up notes with cocaine on them.
One hell of a headache and two piles of clothes
Experiencing physical pain and confusion after a night of partying, and changing clothes twice.
Room full of smoke, eyes full of sleep
The area being smoky after a night of partying, and feeling sleepy.
A plane I've gotta catch and a bed I don't wanna leave
Needing to leave to catch a flight, but not wanting to leave the comfort of bed.
I don't wanna leave you, I wanna wake you
Preferring to wake the woman up instead of leaving her sleeping.
But I should let you sleep through, you look so peaceful
Deciding to let her sleep due to her peaceful appearance.
Tiptoeing as I'm rushing to get my things together
Quiety packing belongings while feeling in a hurry.
Too many pieces of puzzles for me to piece together
Feeling overwhelmed by the events of the night and trying to make sense of everything.
Maybe I'll leave a letter, in the hope that
Considering leaving her a note to remember him by.
When she wakes, she remembers me and that we fell asleep together
Hoping the note will trigger her memory and make her remember spending the night together.
But likely she remembered nothing
Expecting that the woman will not recall the events of the night.
Woke up in a rush and huffing at how Stephen kept her knocking
Feeling in a hurry and frustrated due to Stephen keeping her waiting.
Grabbed her things, didn't see the letter, let alone open it
Leaving without noticing the note, let alone reading it.
Stepped over it on her way out and never even noticed it
Noticing the note only after stepping over it and already having left the room.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Bucks Music Group
Written by: JAMES MURRAY, MUSTAFA OMER, STEVEN MARSDEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jamiebuzzeo4842
This aint even the right song blud, sorry to say, same as your 'growing up in public' track aint even the right track...you need to sort this like mate
@tylermarsh4707
try downloading the track and then listen...