It's a pretty easy to label Professor Green as an imposter, cynically presented to the music marketplace as a sort cockney Eminem 2.0. Even though his rapping style does occasionally resemble the more playful aspects of Eminem's repertoire, this is an unfair comparison but one that Stephen Manderson may struggle to shake. Nonetheless Professor Green has a considerable gift of the gab, honed over years of rap battles in London (some of which are archived on YouTube for posterity) and he's carried that vocal talent over to his second full-length album.
At Your Inconvenience comes just 14 months after Manderson's summer 2010 debut, an album which introduced Professor Green to the music press as an artist with a deft lyrical touch, but presented with booming resonance. While undeniably light-hearted at times, At Your Inconvenience is, at its core, a dark piece of work revealing Green to be uncomfortable with the spotlight of fame and, in the number one single 'Read All About It', chewing out his now deceased father for not being around for his childhood. Heavy stuff for a guy who makes a "your mum" 30 seconds into the first track.
Professor Green will be around for a long time. Considering he's not even two years into his album career, you can expect to hear much more from him over the next decade. When all is said and done, At Your Inconvenience probably won't be the record that Professor Green will be remembered for. What it does, though, is serve considerable notice of things we expect to come.
