You've been on the downlow in recent times. What's been going on with Baby J?

I've been out in the States for the best part of the last year. We'd done the last Yogi album, the Moorish Delta album had come out, and I'd got to the stage where I was a little frustrated with the whole UK scene. I felt if I was really gonna do it as a producer I needed to be out in the US where the industry is based. Dead prez are my people out there so I was working with them and their whole People Army family, A-Alikes and a couple of other cats called I.G. and Nimrod. Hopefully I've got some tracks coming with Raekwon and Steele of the Cocoa Brovaz took some stuff as well. The industry works very differently over there, so I was basically just out there soaking up the game.

What were the immediate differences that struck you?

In a nutshell there's millions of dollars in the industry over there, whereas here in the UK there's not so much financial investment. Plus in the States, there's a clear understanding that black culture is what's gonna make money and they're not afraid to put finances behind that. But I think over here, even when major labels get involved with black artists, they want to make them a bit more mainstream and accessible. I think that comes from the tradition here in the UK of white music always having been dominant. Over here the industry feels it can't just go with a straight UK Hip-Hop artist, or a straight reggae or soul artist, that is already doing something in the black community, but then might still sell to the rest of the record buying public.

Do you think that comes down to the fact that in America it's all about seeing an opportunity to make money, regardless of whether or not a label actually understands or even respects the music they're putting out, whereas here in the UK labels seem to back away if they're not sure what to do with something?

Nothing happens in a vacuum and everything is related to something else. I think you really have to look at the conditions black people are living in both here and in the US, and the way white people have been willing to use or misuse black resources, and how that's happened historically. That has a direct relation to how the music industry works now, as it's mainly white people running these companies that are putting out black music. In the States it's very money-orientated, so you might have the opportunity to do business with someone from a race of people you haven't really got the time of day for, but if there's money to be made then it's deemed acceptable and worthwhile. Over here I think there's an old public school mentality, so even if you have money you're still not clean in some people's eyes. There's an underlying discrimination that goes further and just the fact that you can make money from doing business with someone isn't enough for someone to put their prejudices aside. That all has an effect on the music that gets signed. People in the industry over here are living nice lives, so why would they want to surround themselves with people who make them feel uncomfortable? Whereas in America, as far as business is concerned, the colour green is the most important colour.

You produced "I'll Be Surprised", the lead single from the SkinnyMan album. How did you become involved with the project?

I've known Skinny for a few years and initially I did some tracks with him when he was signed to Talkin' Loud. The Skinny album is all about what goes on around him 24/7 and I think that's beautiful, because there's a lot of suburban kids checking the music now and they'll get a real insight into the world Skinny comes from. I think that's an education and it takes things like that to build bridges between people. The album really seems to be moving in leaps and bounds, so for me to be involved in that is a good thing and I back Skinny's stuff all the way.

Your production on the new Yogi album has a much cleaner sound compared to what people already know you for. Is that a fair comment to make?

It comes down to two things. I'm influenced by other music that's out there. I don't lock myself away when I make music and not listen to anything else. When I did the "Birth" album I wanted that real grimy sound. But as a producer I like to challenge myself and try new things to prove to myself that I can do it. When the clean Swizz Beatz and Timbaland sound blew-up, I didn't think I could do that even if I tried. So I spent a lot of time doing played beats. From there I decided that I did want a cleaner sound, but I didn't really like the played keyboard beats. So I started listening to a lot of old soul records and tried to go for that vibe. Now you've got Kanye West doing something similar and the new Ghostface album is also similar to what I was aiming towards, but at the time I started to do that no-one really had that sound on an entire project. I do want to have a sound so that people know they're listening to a Baby J beat, but at the same time I don't want to be making the same style of music for the next fifteen years. I want to keep evolving.

What other projects are in the pipeline?

Obviously the Yogi album is coming. The next group out of the dead prez camp, A-Alikes, have an album coming in late-September called "Live Or Die" and there should also be a new Moorish Delta album around that same time. There's also a new Baby J album I'm working on with dead prez, Shabazz The Disciple and a bunch of other people. It's called "F.T.P (Fuck The Police)" and I'm hoping to put that out early next year.