Ahead of his forthcoming Fabric show, busy man beat junkie extraordinaire DJ BABU chats to SHK about his boys Dilated, his silent movies and fatherhood.

So what are Dilated up to?

“We’re alive and well, we’re doing great.  We haven’t really been doing much under the Dilated moniker per se but Evidence’s got an album out and Rakaa has a solo album coming out … we’ve all got solo endeavours which we plan on releasing this year.  So hopefully by the end of 2010 you’ll hear a new Dilated song.”

Pretty busy then. Do you find it hard to get together?

Not really, we all still share a studio.  Dilated are still my bread and butter… we’re still very much a family.  I’m still all over Evidence’s album.. we talk about each others’ records; something which makes Dilated as a group that much stronger.  You’ve got to remember that we couldn’t do anything out of the group because of Capitol (Records) because of the force of the contract.  But when we were out, it was a huge weight off our shoulders.  That’s why we released the Release Party DVD- it was a celebration of our freedom.

Although it can be hard… when you’ve been in a group for 10 + years, you sometimes have that feeling that the grass is always greener.  Sometimes you just gotta spread your wings.  So when I step away, it makes me appreciate Dilated even more.  Evidence and Rakaa are the two greatest MCs in the world to me but it’s just healthy to step back now and then.

What was it like when you joined Peoples?

I met them when they released their first independent 12”. You know Evidence and Rakaa were recording from when Evidence was about 15 and Rak like 18/19. There was this buzz surrounding them which they had created.  We were reselling 12”s out of the trunk of cars.  Then they started a bidding war but eventually we settled with Capitol.  We still had some control- any vinyl comes out through ABB- but we were very concerned about the core fans.  An underground rap group with Capitol seems hypocritical. But we made sure our fingerprints were still all over it- which resonated well with the fans.

You’ve had your fingerprints over other things too, like with the Beat Junkies.

Yeah in the mid to late 1990s- it was a blessing being in a scratch collective.   You wanna surround yourself with like-minded people whatever medium but it’s about creating your own niche.  Do It Yourself art. To be around art and creativity not major corporations. Not that I’m dissing major label artists but y’know I’m still about taking my kids to Disneyland without being noticed.

So it’s important for you to lead a dual life?

Definitely, something I’m blessed with.  I get recognised which is great but I crave normality.  I like hanging with my kids in the park, but that’s who we’re about.. it’s about letting the fans in…. We realised that our fans are just like us- aspiring beatmakers.. we wanna make them proud. They don’t worship us, it’s not about that. They’re just blue-collar dudes just like me.

Your Beat Tape Vol. 2 is due for release on 23/Feb. You excited?

Yeah I released one about 2/3 yrs ago but this one’s got 39 instrumentals around 1 to 2 minutes long.   I’ve been working hard trying to be a prominent producer and I’m lucky to have such outlets to show my production, coz y’know I can’t always force Ev and Rak to use my beats all the time.  I would love Kanye to pick up one of the beats to put my kids through college! I’m sitting on hundreds of beats and so making mixtapes is the best way… I’ve had lots of success with my first one.

Also, along with my instrumental album, I’ve been shooting some stop-motion films in conjunction with the LPs. They’re about 1-2 minutes long (see below). They’re fucking addictive. I shot one on my iphone, then I shot more. I haven’t made a beat for ages! It’s basically my point of view, a slice of life…people are getting to know without speaking..kinda like silent movies.  It all helps to build artists up- to show how I interact in my lab… I’m a funny motherfucker, that’s why people wanna be with me. And you gotta make people wanna be there with you so they bring their A game when they’re spitting on your track.

Words: Naomi Kay

Get to know Babu live for yourself this Friday at Fabric London.  Beat Tape Vol.2 is out on the 23rd.. don’t sleep.