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."
Growing Up IN Public
Professor Green Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A wise man once said
Just as things start looking up
It all goes to shit again
Story of my fucking life
I'm growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
They told me to act my age
Maybe one day I'll act it
But for now I'm going backwards, yeah
Lacing up my shoes, buttoning my shirt
I don't know why I'm bothering, you can't polish a turd
Is my tie straight?
I did it and I did it all my way
I told you from the get-go
It was my way or the high way
And I weren't lying then
Ain't lying now, never been, lying down
It's nothing new to me, the press ain't ever been too nice
I ain't surprised, the headline was about the DUI
I'm growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Think to yourself, what would I have done?
Somebody popped my watch and then tried to run
We got in a tussle, all the while
I had no idea where my wife had gone, plus I'm poignant on
Whether he's got a gun or a knife on him
Not knowing if her life was in
Danger why I tried to hold on to the watch and fight the.
Then I heard her scream, so I'm guessing he bought more guys with him
Fuck the watch, my priority's Millie now
You think what I did was so silly now you've figured it out?
Worked out the reason for me getting into the whip
Not only is this dickhead who got me kicked
And gotten away with my watch, he's gone and gotten me in all of this shit
Shame I never caught up to him in the whip, eh?
I'm growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
OK, if I'm being logical, in hindsight then probably,
It is not a shame that I didn't catch up
To the little toerag in the car
Because that could've ended with me in more trouble than I already am
DCI Clarke
Detective Constable Clarke
I don't like you, at all
We will never, ever be friends
I don't wanna be a criminal
I'm nearly 30 years old
I'm a married man I wanna move to the country, have children and smoke my pipe with nothing illegal in it
I'm growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Growing up, growing up, growing up in public
In “Growing Up in Public,” Professor Green shares his frustrations of growing up in the public eye while recounting a violent incident that almost landed him in hot water with the law. The opening lines of the song reference a “wise man” who once said, “Just as things start looking up, it all goes to shit again.” This sentiment encapsulates the theme of the song as Green reflects on the challenges he’s faced navigating adulthood under the scrutiny of the media.
Through the lines “They told me to act my age. Maybe one day I'll act it. But for now, I'm going backward, yeah,” Green admits his reluctance to conform to societal expectations of what it means to be a responsible adult. He goes on to describe a physical altercation in which he almost lost his cool completely. As he recounts the event, Green expresses gratitude for the timely intervention of his wife, who prevented the fight from escalating.
In the final verse of the song, Green appears to make peace with growing old and yearning for a quieter life away from public scrutiny. He expresses a desire to move out of the city, settle down with his wife and have children.
Line by Line Meaning
Ah, mate
A colloquial way of starting off the song
A wise man once said
Referencing a piece of advice given to him
Just as things start looking up
When things seem to be going well
It all goes to shit again
Everything falls apart quickly
Story of my fucking life
The overall theme of his experiences
I'm growing up, growing up, growing up in public
Becoming an adult in the public eye
They told me to act my age
People expect him to behave in a more mature way
Maybe one day I'll act it
Not fully committed to changing his behavior anytime soon
But for now I'm going backwards, yeah
Regressing instead of improving his behavior
Lacing up my shoes, buttoning my shirt
Getting ready for the day
I don't know why I'm bothering, you can't polish a turd
Trying to improve oneself when it seems impossible
Is my tie straight?
Checking his appearance
I did it and I did it all my way
Taking control of his life and decisions
I told you from the get-go
Being honest from the beginning
It was my way or the high way
Not willing to compromise
And I weren't lying then
Sticking to his word
Ain't lying now, never been, lying down
Still being truthful and standing up for himself
It's nothing new to me, the press ain't ever been too nice
Being accustomed to negative media attention
I ain't surprised, the headline was about the DUI
Expecting negative press about his past mistakes
Think to yourself, what would I have done?
Asking the listener to put themselves in his shoes
Somebody popped my watch and then tried to run
Being robbed
We got in a tussle, all the while
Getting into a physical altercation
I had no idea where my wife had gone, plus I'm poignant on
Being worried about his wife's safety
Whether he's got a gun or a knife on him
Being fearful of his attacker
Not knowing if her life was in
Being concerned for his wife's well-being
Danger why I tried to hold on to the watch and fight the.
Attempting to defend himself and his property
Then I heard her scream, so I'm guessing he bought more guys with him
Realizing that the attacker was not alone
Fuck the watch, my priority's Millie now
Realizing that his wife's safety is more important
You think what I did was so silly now you've figured it out?
Asking the listener to reconsider their initial judgement
Worked out the reason for me getting into the whip
Reflecting on why he was in that situation
Not only is this dickhead who got me kicked
Blaming his attacker for his current troubles
And gotten away with my watch, he's gone and gotten me in all of this shit
Feeling trapped in a bad situation
Shame I never caught up to him in the whip, eh?
Regretting not being able to catch his attacker
OK, if I'm being logical, in hindsight then probably,
Admitting to making a mistake
It is not a shame that I didn't catch up
Realizing the potential danger in that situation
To the little toerag in the car
Referring to his attacker in a derogatory way
Because that could've ended with me in more trouble than I already am
Being grateful to have avoided additional problems
DCI Clarke
Referring to a detective on his case
Detective Constable Clarke
Using the detective's full title
I don't like you, at all
Disliking the detective
We will never, ever be friends
Knowing that they will never get along
I don't wanna be a criminal
Not wanting to continue with bad behavior
I'm nearly 30 years old
Feeling too old to continue with immature behavior
I'm a married man I wanna move to the country, have children and smoke my pipe with nothing illegal in it
Wanting a peaceful and simple life
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: KHALIL ABDUL-RAHMAN, ERIK ALBERT GEORGE ALCOCK, PRANAM INJETI, STEPHEN MANDERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
TERROR BEATS
if people don't get this is intentionally cringe worthy then please log off your computer, go outside and find a fucking sense of humour.
tomzablee
Such a cringe, worst grime in the uk hands down
Daniel Holland
Please don't download it illegally. I will find you.. 😅