Hackney's Professor – or Stephen Manderson to his gran, who raised him – first appeared on Mike Skinner's The Beats label, when his guest spot on the remix of "When You Wasn't Famous" gained him the tag "British Eminem". He secured a breakthrough with "I Need You Tonight", which reached No 3 in April. Alive Till I'm Dead is similarly commercial, not least current single "Just Be Good to Green" with Lily Allen, but despite the obvious samples, Green's inventive rhymes and neat line in self-deprecation – he's usually chasing the girl, rather than vice versa – shine through.