Example and Professor Green

It’s a strange old journey that Example’s been on these past few years; he first emerged into the public consciousness in 2009, when his second record, Won’t Go Quietly, suggested that he was ready to ditch the sound that had carved him out a reputation as one of the underground’s most exciting prospects - the straight-up grime and hip hop crossover that characterised his debut, What We Made - and instead pursue something altogether more commercially viable. This began, with the likes of ‘Dirty Face’, as a blend of house, dance and rap, but alongside it were tracks like ‘Kickstarts’, which had a genuine pop sensibility and hit number one in the charts as a result. That success, in turn, elevated Example to somewhere that nobody - even himself - could have imagined six or seven years ago; arena status, as he toured the UK with Benga last year in support of his fourth album, The Evolution of Man. To those shows, he brought the same basic blueprint that made his many high-profile festival slots a roaring success; a live band, a laser-heavy light show, and the utilisation of every possible opportunity to have a surely-exhausted crowd jumping. He’s done all of this at the expense of a fair bit of credibility, but really, the swagger with which he’s pulled off his reinvention is to be commended.

Professor Green is a UK rapper and hip hop and grime performer with a witty lyrical talent and an impressive freestyle reputation.
Back in 2010 I saw Professor Green at the Staffordshire V Festival. The gig occurred shortly after the release of ‘Alive Until I’m Dead,’ at the peak of the hype around ‘I Need to You Tonight’ and ‘Just be Good to Green.’ The onus was on Green to prove to the mainstream crowd that he was capable of producing more than a couple of hit singles. Indeed, I’d been especially keen to see the rapper perform, and had had work hard to persuade some of my more indie friends to join me by the stage. Delightfully, the Green-sceptics were soon proved wrong.
Pro delivered one of the festival’s most impressive performances. Green and co were obviously having a great time on stage, and their attitude was infectious. Despite the early 12.30pm slot and an unfortunately-timed bout of rain, the audience were jumping. Literally. The whole crowd bounced and waved along in unison to ‘Jungle.’
Green ended the set with an energetic rendition of his debut single ‘I Need You Tonight,’ which that April had peaked in the UK Chart at number three. It was a real crowd-pleaser and the crowd needed little of Professor Green’s encouragement to sing and dance along.