Professor Green finds writing music makes him as happy as hearing his son laugh.
The 37-year-old rapper – who has Slimane, four months, with partner Karima McAdams – has been working hard in the studio and admitted expressing his creative side is the only thing that gives him as much excitement as being a dad.
He said: “Beyond parenthood, the only thing that makes me shake my hands [with excitement] is finishing the lyric I’ve been stuck on, or coming up with a line that I’m really happy with.
“The only thing that I can compare that to is the first time Slimane giggled.”
And the ‘I Need You Tonight’ hitmaker is grateful there’s no “pressure” on him when it comes to his work so he can balance his commitments better.
He told Red magazine: “I don’t have the same pressures as artists starting out, I can create freely.
“That’s a really nice place to be because my personal life doesn’t have to suffer for my work, which is wonderful, because there have been plenty of times in my life when it has.”
Green – whose real name is Stephen Manderson – began performing when he was 18 but took eight years to land a record deal but he admitted he ignored urges from his friends to find a different career path.
He said: “I was very persistent, but there was a bit of blind stupidity in the mix as well.”
In 2011, the rapper landed his first number one with his and Emili Sande’s collaboration, ‘Read All About It’ and he admitted it came as a huge surprise because of the subject matter.
He said: “That song was about my dad’s suicide, which doesn’t really sound like content for a chart-topping single.”