Baby J Midlands Estate Of Mind Baby J would probably be the first to tell you that Derby isn't exactly a hotbed of hiphop activity. But that hasn't stopped the Midlands-based producer from carving out a career for himself in the rap world, crafting banging examples of sonic showmanship that have been blessed over the years by artists as diverse as New York Wu-Tang-affiliate Shabazz The Disciple and more recently London's own SkinnyMan. Though J's recent work with Finsbury's finest and the buzz that surrounded the I'll Be Surprised single might mean his name now carries a little more industry weight, don't expect to hear the man responsible for such confrontational cuts as Moorish Delta's Silent Screams compromising his musical integrity any time soon. As far as Baby J is concerned, hiphop is the soundtrack to life's everyday struggles, made by the people, for the people. It's protest music that has the power to challenge the status quo and make a difference. It's something that comes from the heart, not a corporate boardroom. As Mobb Deep once said, there's a war going on outside no man is safe from, and Baby J is providing some heavy artillery for your walkman while you're on the frontlines. When and how did you start producing? I started producing about fifteen years ago when I was 16 years old. When I was younger, about 13, there was a big rare groove revival and I started hearing a lot of that. I came from a family that didn't really play a lot of music, so it was something that I discovered by hanging around with certain friends at school. All my money started going into buying these old soul records. At the same time, my friends were putting me onto hiphop and giving me tapes of BDP, Public Enemy and Ultramagnetic MCs. I was hearing loops of records that I had the originals of, so I just thought 'I could do this.' I started making pause tapes using two tape decks and a drum machine I brought off someone. That's how I made my first beats and they were all shit (laughs). But I was hooked. I don't think I ever bought a piece of equipment - it was all stolen (laughs). Was there a hiphop scene to speak of in Derby at that time? Derby had a crew back in the day, called Posse In Effect, who had a reputation throughout the Midlands. We also had a club called 20th Century that had a little name for itself and I can remember coaches from London coming up there. We had everyone from Derek B to London Posse and Farley 'Jackmaster' Funk come to perform. So there was something going on in Derby. G-Force, who's on Yogi's album, is one of the original Posse In Effect members. I wanted to be G-Force when I was younger - that's how deep it was. Your 1998 debut album Birth featured a lot of underground Stateside artists such as Shabazz The Disciple and Freestyle of The Arsonists. How were those links made? I think it was through a combination of enthusiasm and naiveté. I'd got to the stage where I thought my beats were decent. I sent out three demo tapes - one to KRS-One's Front Page label, one to Chrysalis because Gang Starr were on that label and they were my favourite group at the time, and I sent one to Wu-Tang Records. Amazingly, a guy called Klass who was an A&R for Wu-Tang called me and said he liked my stuff. I flew out to New York and met RZA. But soon after, Klass left to do his own thing, which killed my link with Wu-Tang. A few months later he called to say he wanted me to go to the States to do a load of production for some artists he was working with. I can remember sitting in Lord Jamar's house with Melachi The Nutcracker from the Gang Starr camp, M-1 from dead prez, Shabazz, and there's me from Derby! It was a great experience though, because I was thrown in at the deep end and was schooled so much about the industry. To do Birth and have a record out with my name on it was amazing to me. I was living with Shabazz in Brooklyn's Red Hook projects and was the only white person there. It was a crazy experience. It was through Shabazz and dead prez that MCs like A-Alikes and Bless were on the album. I think we sold about 3,500 records and at the time it was astounding to me that so many people would want to hear my music. But it was kinda upsetting and ironic that I was out in the US, meeting major artists like Big Pun and getting a good response, yet in the UK at the time I really couldn't get no love from anyone. 2004 has been something of a breakthrough year for you with the success of both the SkinnyMan album and Yogi's project. Did you intend for everything to come together that way? We had a label situation here in the UK that didn't happen. I was so frustrated that I was in a worse position that I decided to stop fucking around. I sold almost everything I owned - my car, furniture, records. Then I flew out to the States to live in 2003 and was out there for about nine months. I got a manager and was shopping my beats to labels like Roc-A-Fella. I linked with Raekwon and Smif-N-Wessun. So things were picking up momentum, but then real life caught up and my baby mother told me my son was gonna live with me, so I came back to the UK. It was the worst time something like that could happen, but my son always comes first. Although since coming back, this year has been really good for me. I've worked hard, and the Skinny stuff has done better than any of us ever expected, and Yogi is now a name that people consider to be relevant. My name is starting to get recognised, so doors have opened that weren't open before. You've predominantly worked with artists who are both politically and socially aware. Is it important to you to include a message in your music? Definitely. I mean, music doesn't necessarily have to be about politics to be a beautiful thing. But music itself isn't really that important - everyone reading this will have friends in fucked-up situations. There's a lot of problems that are caused by the system we live in. Music can be a great tool in helping to change things, so for me it's important to work with people who think of music in that same way. If I dropped dead tomorrow and all I've done is just make good music for the sake of making music, how important is that in the world? But if someone stands up for their rights as a human being off the back of the vibe they got from one of my tracks, then I feel that justifies me making music as a grown man. Look out for Baby J's F.T.P album to be released next year. Yogi's Bear Necessities and A-Alikes Live Or Die are both available now.