Professor Elemental

Paul Alborough (born 1 June 1975), professionally known as Professor Elemental, is a steampunk and chap hop musical artist.[1]

Professor Elemental
Professor Elemental in 2018
Background information
OriginIpswich, England
Genres
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Years active2005–present
LabelsTea Sea Records (2009–present)
WebsiteProfessorElemental.com

Career

After being approached to do a concept album of hip-hop as it would sound in different time periods, Emcee Elemental created the character of Professor Elemental. While the album never came to fruition, the character stuck.[2] Professor Elemental has since been seen performing as a solo act or in theatre acts such as Come into My Parlour. He is also popular at steampunk events and has been a headliner at the Steampunk World's Fair and the Waltz on the Wye.

The Professor Elemental character first gained attention with his music video for "Cup of Brown Joy", directed by Moog, which got the attention of Warren Ellis. Since then he has released a new album, continued his work in the community and performed live. He was, for a time, in a friendly feud with fellow "chap-hop" artist Mr. B The Gentleman Rhymer.[3] However, Professor Elemental had a short appearance in Mr. B's music video for the song "Just Like a Chap", of which Professor Elemental said "much as I hate to admit it, I bloody love that video and am jolly glad [Mr. B] let me gate crash."[4] Mr. B reciprocated with a cameo on Elemental's video for his song, "I'm British" (which also featured appearances by members of the Eccentric Club, of which Elemental is a member).[5] The two seem to have finally settled their differences in the track, "The Duel", on Elemental's 2012 album The Father of Invention, where, after a rap battle, both agree that the other is "jolly good" at what they do and go to enjoy a crate of sherry and some opium.

Elemental performing in 2015

The short film The Chronicles of Professor Elemental was successfully funded via Crowdfunder in 2012, raising £7,226 - with 155 supporters in 45 days.[6] The professor is called on, in the film, to find the statute of the golden frog. The 45-minute musical comedy was directed by Benjamin Field, starting Paul Alborough, Grace Alexander-Scott, and Dan Gingell, created by Hilton Productions Ltd, and released in 2013 via YouTube - in three parts. The videos were later made private and the whole film available to stream via Amazon Prime Video.

In 2013, he appeared in the "Steampunx" episode of Phineas and Ferb, as well as the episode "The Bewildering Bout of the Astounding Automatons" of Penn Zero: Part-Time Hero.[7][8][9]

He collaborated with the steampunk rock group Steam Powered Giraffe on their song "Sky Sharks", from their 2015 album The Vice Quadrant: A Space Opera.[10]

Personal life

Originally from Ipswich,[11] Alborough currently lives in Brighton.[3]

Discography

Albums
  • The Indifference Engine (2009) [12]
  • More Tea? (2010)
  • Special School: The Album (2011)
  • Father of Invention (2012)
  • The Giddy Limit (2014)
  • Apequest: The Search for Geoffrey (2015)
  • Professor Elemental and his amazing friends (2016)
  • The School Of Whimsy (2018)
  • Professor Elemental and his amazing friends: Part 2 (2019)
  • Let's Get Messy (2020)

References
  1. Moore, Matthew (5 June 2008), Cup of Brown Joy tea rap becomes YouTube hit, UK: The Telegraph, retrieved 9 January 2011
  2. Watkins, Carl (26 November 2010), An interview with Paul Alborough, AKA Professor Elemental, GuerrillaGeek, archived from the original on 2 January 2011, retrieved 9 January 2011
  3. Robinson, Frances (4 April 2011), "In 'Chap-Hop,' Gentlemen Rappers Bust Rhymes About Tea, Cricket", Wall Street Journal, retrieved 5 April 2011
  4. Alborough, Paul (22 October 2012), Professor Elemental on Twitter, retrieved 22 October 2012
  5. Meredith Vieira, Inside England's centuries-old 'Eccentric Club', TODAY.com, archived from the original on 11 August 2012, retrieved 28 November 2012
  6. "The Chronicles of Professor Elemental". Crowdfunder.co.uk. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  7. "Professor Elemental dishes on his "Phineas and Ferb" cameo". Comicmix.com. 19 November 2013.
  8. Viccar, Moriarty (20 November 2013). "Professor Elemental performs on Phineas and Ferb". Steampunkjournal.org. Retrieved 18 July 2020.
  9. "Tumblr". Samakaphyllis.tumblr.com.
  10. "Release "The Vice Quadrant". MusicBrainz. 20 January 2016. Retrieved 16 November 2016.
  11. Professor Elemental (25 April 2019). "WHAT?! How very DARE they? Please update it to say Ipswich ..." Twitter.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  12. "Professor Elemental-About". Professorelemental.com. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
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