Professor Green

An irreverent storyteller, Professor Green hails from Hackney, London, England and got his start in a freestyle battle, which he won. Mike Skinner (aka the Streets) later spotted him at Brixton's B-Boy Championships and signed the MC to The Beats, though the label folded in 2007. After self-releasing a 2008 EP, Green was stabbed in the neck at a London club, but the event did nothing to slow him. Virgin signed him, and his first two singles with the label, 2010's "I Need You Tonight" and "Just Be Good to Green" (which featured Lily Allen) reached the Top Ten of the U.K. chart. Alive Till I'm Dead, Green's first proper album, featured both songs and was released in July 2010.