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Hi Im TufKut and this is where Im supposed to put blurb about my background and stuff so I guess Ill spill the beans like a split colostomy bag in a swimming pool >yipes!< Im a Funk and HipHop Dj who plays for Bboys and am probably better known as part of the original BreakinBread collective. I also run BeatsinProgress and have released a jolly crateful of 12s with friends and buddies doing vocals and remix work for it. As well as producing tracks for BeatsinProgress Ive made the jingles and co-hosted the BreakinBread show on ItchFM with MrMassire, RobLife, Skeg & SteveSleeve also the Scratch n Sniff show on GlobalFunkRadio with DjProne. But thats the short of it, if you want the background to how BeatsinProgress came to be or what drove me to dig an Dj Im gonna have to go deeper into my memory and think past what I ate lastnight and whats on TV after Eastenders >fook!<

Being around in the 80s when Bboying & Electro first hit the UK, I was sucked, yes as a 13year old I was sucked into it all-Bboying, Djing & Graff. I was blessed by being able to go to the StreetSounds jams in 85 (Birmingham), Fresh86 (London) as well as Prestatyn SoulWeekenders in the late 80s and early 90s. All through this I had the bruised shoulders (lots of windmills were my move) and anorexic bank account from diggin.

After going to see favs like GangStarr, BigDaddyKane, PublicEnemy, SlickRick, MasterAce, EPMD, LLCoolJ, LordFinesse, McMello, CashMoney & Marvelous, EricB & Rakim I was always inspired to dig more and practice (especially as all of the above would have slots where the Dj would shine their skills). So when playing out I play 80s to mid 90s HipHop. This mixed together with a Funk 45s set makes pretty good party music-I guess they mix together well as that era in HipHop sampled chunks of drums, loops and hooks from Funky tracks.

My love for HipHop drove me down the slippery path of diggin for breaks to which I ended up from Camden record fairs, Bernards basement, carboot fairs, Reckless records, Norwich record exchange to Groove records, Hitman, SpinOffs and any charity shop which had any vinyl. This literally gave me a crate estate of Funk, Jazz, Library, Easy listening, Rock, Fusion, Reggae, Country and western breaks. Always wanting to know what break was behind which HipHop track made me dig an dig. After a while I got a 4track in 87 and started making my own tracks. This would lead me to cross paths with RobLife in 90 when we traded 4track mixes and chatted like old grannies at bus stops about HipHop. It was ayear later that me and Rob released a 12 with one side each of 4track tunes >zoiks!<. His side was under DjLife and mine was under LTK with my MC-2Fine (Robs side sounded a lot better as my Vesta fire 05 4track didnt cut it kinda like rubber scissors!)

During the 80s and early 90s the label scene was completely different as resources to release your own material were very limited. So after me and Rob released the 12 the hunger was more set for a deal. Sadly the only labels which ran the scene-Music of Life, KoldSweat, Tuff Groove, Conscious Music and the Justice label-were not interested(although KoldSweat gave a nice constructive reply).

After playing out and about for a few years I had links with the Deftex boys and had the pleasure of guesting many time at the Marvel ran by SureDelight in Norwich and also good friends with one of the MCs-Chrome. With this I ended up co-producing on the Tutorial Sessions III EP on Soudclash with Rkey in 93. But it was never enough, so in 97 I teamed up with RobLife again and STS from Scotland to form BeatinProgress. It was originally to be a group of producers working with various MCs under the name to give a wider scope of skills. So I recorded the 1st 12-Give me a Break with TMO and Chrome doing Served on a Plate on the flip (original version recorded in 93). Rob did a nice remix of Served on a Plate, all recorded at MAYF in Coventry. I pressed 500 (at the pressing plant that Braintax worked at-nice link) and Rob went on to work on solo projects as did STS-leaving me to run the ship. That was the start of BeatsinProgress and Ive been running it since with the help of many friends guesting on each 12 and 7.

Here are some pics of the BeatsinProgress artist lineup:

Being a resident was good fun but with hard work too looking after guests, setting up the decks, lyno, backdrops and managing the door-big guest lists(mine was the biggest!). The perk was being able to link with all the heads and this is how I first hooked up with Kashmere. The open mic sessions were always a laugh from lyrical content to delivery (feedback woooOOOooo!!!) but were the best place to hear how good someone was. Apart from the social aspects of the club and being able to do the BreakinBread show on ItchFM on Sundays (me and Massire always used to catch the most jokes), the buzz from having 600 peeps moving and grooving to 93 til infinity, Scenerio, TROY or Sound of the Police is not to be sniffed at (even if you have a nose more runny than the squits after a 2 day old dodgy curry).

So with regular links with the open mic and all the club work that BreakinBread brought, BeatsinProgress had a nice string of 12s all being recorded at Boomtime studios in South London by my trusty engineer Roddy. The artists varied on each track, from Ghost (who I knew from Norwich in 91) a solid HipHop producer to Kashmere a skilled MC from the club. When BreakinBread moved into the record arena I was involved in the A&R field (Rob, Skeg and I would jointly decide on releases). This lead to BeatsinProgress getting on to the infamous Sevens series with Crumpet Chase/Death of 1000 Cuts being released on 7 and later again in 02 on the LP the Deadly 7 Sins.

After a good 5 years of residential work for the BB club, I had seen it move from Mass in Brixton, ThePlug in Stockwell, Jax in London Bridge to TheRhythmFactory in Algate. This is not to mention all the guest slots in a variety of clubs from Sheffield, EdinBorough, Brighton, Norwich, PeterBorough, Plymouth as well as the DedBeat Weekenders. This filled up a lot of my time and with a day job and BeatsinProgress to run something had to give so I worked it out with the club that Id do guest slots, radio shows and BB work for other clubs. This left me to concentrate on 12s like AlongTimeAgo and SpaceCadets leading to the LP FrenchGuitarLessons. Other changes were to go through as I had been doing the BreakinBread show on ItchFM since its start on Sundays, I had guested and covered on other shows like the Shotcallers show with ReggieFantastik, the Run the Line show with 563 and the SuspectPackages show with Ghost but due to ItchFMs set up I decided to pull out. My other radio work was to be a stint of the SundaySermon with Massire ..FM in 04 and then the Scratch n Sniff show with Prone on globalfunkradio (an online show) from Nov04 to July05.

Now I'm back on ItchFM doing the SundayMorningCratefast show 10am til 12pm for a weekly slot of HotSoul, DeepFriedFunk, FatOoozingBreaks an Bubblin' HipHop. So maybe you might be able to catch me playing at a club, on a radio, in a bar, at a wedding either live mixing my dirty 7s or hammering my beats out on record.

Until then heres some of my favs to hava gander over and some tunes for those dirty diggers to hunt down (",) HappyDiggin!

Playout 7s:

1) Juggy-Oily(Sue)

2) Monica-I Dont Know Nothing else to tell You, But I Love You(Toxan)

3) MarvaWhitney-What Do I have To Do(King)

4) The Vibrettes-Humpty Dump- pt1(Lujon)

5) Jeanette White-No Sunshine(A&M)

6) Ike&DeeDee Johnson-The Drag(Innis)

7) JoeBataan-Latin Strut(Mericana)

8) DaveCortez-Happy Soul(Speed)

9) LittleRoyal-Razor Blade(Tri-Us)

10) VernonGarrett-You Blew My Mind(Kapp)

Playout HipHop:

1. MarleyMarl&McShan-Marley Marl Scratch(Nia)

2. Uptown-Dope On Plastic(Tommy Boy)

3. MainSource-Fakin the Funk(EP version)(EMI)

4. EPMD-Brothers From Brentwood LI(RAL)

5. GangStarr-Words I Manifest(Remix)(WildPitch)

6. LordFinesse-Return of The Funkyman(Giant)

7. DiamondD-Freestyle(Yo,Thats That Sh*t)(PWL/Mercury)

8. Showbiz&AG-StillDiggin(Payday)

9. KoolGRap&DjPolo-Talk Like Sex(ColdChillin)

10. SuperLoverCee&CasanovaRud-Super Casanova(DNA)

Drum Breaks:

1. ShellyFisher-Ill Leave You(Kapp)

2. EddieBo&ArnezCheatham-Lover & a Friend(SevenB)

3. Love-Doggone(BlueThumb)

4. TheNewFreedomSingers-Put Your Hand In The Hand(MFP)

5. TheMadLads-Get Out Of My Life Woman(Atlantic)

6. LennieHibbert-Go For Yourself(Studio1)

7. BorisGardiner-Melting Pot(Jaguar)

8. RamseyLewis-Back In The USSR(Cadet)

9. RickyWilliams-Discoteque Soul pt2(EbonySounds)

10. JoeFarrell-Upon This Rock(CTI)

Break Dancing Oops

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