Ain't Nuthin But A "Free" Thang - Rukus, Rob Kelly, Spitz, Devi/Krate Krusaders & Stylah

A vertitable flotilla of UK Hip Hop music gratuit today. first off is Stylah's 'The Warning' which is truly hosted by ex-gangster type Dave Courtney who drops Cockney quotables throughout. There are plenty of full quality tracks to be had here with production from Styalz Fuego, Sivey and DJ Mentat and guest verses from Bashy, Mike GLC, Smiler, Sincere, Mims and Deadly Hunta. Check out 'James Bond', 'Craziest Remix' and 'Hard Way' for some absolute quality on varying topics. Download 'The Warning' now.

Spitz spits some political, sometimes religious and always forceful raps on his free to download 'Deep Water (Bags of Sand)' - check 'Not In My Name' and 'Free Palestine' for his manifesto. If you want something a little more normal listen to the relaxing 'Head Up'. Download 'Deep Water (Bag of Sand)' now. Spitz is an interesting character as he's a convert to Islam from a western background - born in Wales, lives in London. Click here for more info on the guy. Look out for the second part of the 'Deep Water' series coming soon.

Krate Krusaders who provided some excellent tracks for Volumes 2 and 3 of my 'On The Radar' series have been working with Devi for a couple of years now. The culmination of which is this selection of tracks under the name 'The Devinekrusade' EP. What you get is quality, sometimes quirky boom-bap beats and solid lyrics exploring a nice variety of ideas. Check out 'Hip Hop Frankenstein' and 'Fruit' for the freshness. Click here for 'The Devinekrusade' then find them on myspace or facebook 'casue them boys want feedback like a guitar next to an amp.

East Midlands MC Rukus intends to put out a mixtape every other month this year. Part one of the '2000 N Mine' series is available now, and has been for a little while (well, since April), I'm sure there'll be another soon (keep checking here for more). Alex Blood and Ty feature on 'Overstand' and many tracks (such as 'Jus Flow' and 'Hear Me') toe the Hip Hop/Grime line daringly - a little different to his work with producer Baby J. The quality of this isn't that great but the skills come through nevertheless.

I've slept on this release and this artist for way too long. Rob Kelly is undoubtedly one of Ireland's best and with his unashamed accented lyrics surely everyone wants to hear him go in over House of Pain's 'Jump Around'. Rob Kelly has the hardest lyrics, it's no wonder that Frankie Krutches, Slaine and Memphis Bleek feature. On 'St. Patrick's Day Massacre' RK freestyles and raps his way through 21 tracks of hard beats - what you waiting for? It's been long enough - download it!

Rusty Jukebox Free Downloads

There's a whale, over there! Not really, but if you do go over there (to Rusty Jukebox's website of course) then what you will find is something larger than an aquatic mammal.

What you'll discover is a vast vault of vibrantly vivacious (sorry, watched 'V for Vendetta' the other night) Hip Hop tunes one of which is one of my most favourite tunes this year: 'Let me Be' by T.L.G. (The Lost Generation) which features Reggiimental, Ras Supa, Biggaman, S.C, Joe Gutta and Rukus. That track comes from their album 'Everything So Clear' which was made available at the beginning of this year.

Other treats on offer here are JVF Clique's 'Alternative Income Sampler', T.L.G.'s 'Infinite Potential', Jimmy B-Boy's 'The Mixtape', Shady Rezidents' 'Unheard Word' and a few other things. All I can say is, go get your download on!

Hip Hop Producers - Baby J Interview

Seasoned UK producer Baby J took time out of his busy, pre album launch schedule to answer a few questions for Certified Banger:

Certified Banger: Your new album, ‘Baby Food’ is out towards the end of this year, in a couple of months. What can we all expect from that? What are you most excited about with respect to its release?

Baby J: It’s just nice to have my s**t coming out, I love letting people hear my stuff and seeing what feedback it gets. I always feel lucky just to be able to be releasing music, it’s what I’ve always wanted to do so every time is an honour.

CB: You’ve had loads of attention from the sphere of UK Hip Hop and I’ve heard your tracks on Radio 1 nuff times, especially ‘Young, Gifted and Black’. You’ve made moves with big names in the pop world like Mark Ronson. What are your hopes and expectations for the success of ‘Baby Food’?

Baby J: I think I’d just like to get my stuff heard outside of the UK hip hop arena, I feel like I got my stripes there, I’d like to be known as a producer not just a hip hop producer, I’m always gonna make hip hop cause that’s my heart but id like to be able to try some other stuff to.

CB: There are going to be loads of guests on ‘Baby Food’, as usual. Who have you had a chance to work with this time that you have never worked with before? How important are the guest singers and rappers to your work?

Baby J: Farma G and Million Dan were big ones for me, just cause they’re both legends. The artists on my albums make the albums, I provide the landscape but they make it what it is.

CB: What do you look for in an artist when doing collaboration? Are there any MC’s or singers who you would really like to have on your productions in the future?

Baby J: Just someone that stands out. And someone that’s about their business, I’m getting too old to be chasing rappers! I’d like to do something with Dizzee, and Rodney P and Lilly Allen and Adele

CB: Let’s talk about your production sound now. You seem to have a knack when it comes to picking samples; your beats are always so catchy whether they have a happy or a darker vibe. What’s your sample finding process?

Baby J: 2 things, firstly its got to be sonically nice, there’s gotta be something nice about the texture of the sound, the way it was recorded, the instruments used. Secondly the original music’s gotta be hot. I’m usually into a track before I sample it.

CB: Lots of people read my interviews with producers to get tips. What tips would you give to an aspiring producer? Are the any little secrets you can let us into?

Baby J: When you’re working with samples you’re the last musician in the room, so try and add instruments and playing styles that are sympathetic to the music that’s already down, don’t just add some generic boom bap drums over the top. And… EZ Drummer, vintage rock, insider info.

CB: Does the production on ‘Baby Food’ follow the traditional sampling method or have you started from scratch on any of the tracks?

Baby J: There are no samples on the new album. All the tracks have been made from scratch. A couple of tracks have been inspired by other tracks id heard and id got musicians to come and replay things but everything else was from scratch. It was a conscious decision, I felt id done the sample thing and I wanted to challenge myself with a new way of working, so I bought a piano of ebay for £40 and a bass and a guitar.

CB: Who and what inspires you to make music? What got you into producing in the first place?

Baby J: I first started making music because that way I didn’t have to wait for new records to come out to have new music, in some ways it’s the same thing now, I make music when I want to create a certain vibe or feel.

CB: As a fan of Blade, I’ve got to ask, as you produced his last ever album, how did you feel when he said he was going into retirement? Did you know he was going to do that when you were working on ‘Guerrilla Tactics’?

Baby J: To be honest I don’t think I really believed him, I thought it was talk. When we did the album and it came out it was on the tale end of records actually selling and I think he just got disheartened with the sales from the project. We new it was a good album, and it got the critical acclaim but that just didn’t manifest into sales cause people just weren’t buying music in the same way they were 5 years ago.

CB: A lot of prominent people in all walks of life feel a certain amount of responsibility. What’s your role in UK Hip Hop besides making dope beats? Is hard being the one behind the ones with the voice or is that good for you?

Baby J: I get to choose which artists I work with, so they get to speak for me in a sense. I look at music as propaganda. its a tool to talk to the youth so we all have a responsibility to use it accordingly, if you aint got nothing worth saying put the mic down. Recently I was at an anti BNP rally outside their national festival, you see these guys pushing their pro-white racist bulls**t and it suddenly occurred to me, I bet most of their kids listened to black music, they damn sure aint listening to morris dancing.

CB: Thanks for your time. Are there any last words, anything you’d like to add that we’ve not covered? Any interesting insights that you’ve been thinking about over the last couple of weeks?!

Baby J: Check my blog http://babyjbiz.blogspot.com to hear my rants about life. FTP (oh, and buy my album, please)

Mark Ronson - 'Valerie' ft. Amy Winehouse (Baby J Remix)

Skinnyman - 'I'll Be Surprised' (Produced by Baby J and taken from the album 'Council Estate of Mind)

Rukus - 'Let It Go' ft. Ty, Klashnekoff & Yogi (Taken from Baby J's album 'F.T.P.')

Blade - 'UK Hip Hop' (Produced by Baby J and featuring on Blade's last album 'Guerrilla Tactics')

Yogi - 'Black or White' (Produced by Baby J, taken from 'F.T.P. 2: Fight The Power')

Dynamite MC - 'Young, Gifted and Black' (Produced by Baby J, taken from 'F.T.P. 2: Fight The Power')