Interview: Joe Buhdha and MistaJam Talk UK Takeover

Joe Buhdha and Mista Jam have been at the helm of SureShot Entertainments Ltd for the past few years. Within that time, they've not only worked to establish Joe Buhdha as one of the finest producers and Mista Jam as one of the most entertaining deejays and hosts in UK hiphop, but they also to set up UK Takeover which has grown to become the biggest regular UK hiphop event in the country.

How and when did you meet?
Buhdha saw Jam on Crossroads and at the time was looking for a chef for a restaurant he was planning to open. Buhdha asked him for a CV and instead got a mixtape. We started working together from Bring Da Noize in about 2000.

How old are you?
Hiphop keeps you fresh, it's youthful. Buhdha's actually 55 but he looks 20. Jam's actually 110.

What are your roles in SureShot?
Buhdha's responsible for the ideas and the music. He runs the studio while Jam works with our other partner Ed to do the day-to-day stuff in the office. It's a real team effort and it's working well. There's a lot of hard work involved though. We both produce and deejay but Jam's taking a break from the production and Buhdha's taking a break from playing records at the moment!

Has either of you been an emcee?
Buhdha used to be in a crew called MC's Logik but decided to put down the mic when the S3000 called him. Jam has never been an emcee, but there's still time...!

The rap market is flooded with products both domestic and American - justify my love.
Justify my love? Wasn't that a song by Madonna? Our love is that we love music, hiphop, vibes and love doing what we're doing. There's no better feeling than doing what you love doing for a job. If you're feeling what we're doing, then thanks for your support. Your love for hiphop can only be justified by yourself.

Any particularly proud moments or releases to mention?
All of our releases we're proud of, Irregardless of what other people think of them. Every day we wake up and realise that this is what we do for a living. We have conversations about bringing KRS One and Rahzel to Nottingham, or we're discussing who we'd like on the next Takeover or what's going to happen when Klashnekoff comes to Nottingham for a week to record. We then turn these conversations into reality. That's a great position to be in and we're proud to be in it.

What do you feel is strong about Nottingham hiphop?
There are strong foundations for hiphop in this town so we're just working to continue that tradition and invest in the future for the next generation of hiphop. There's a lot of people in Nottingham that are making good music.

What do you feel is weak about our local scene?
As with hiphop in general, we feel there are one too many crews/labels/artists who have lost their sense of quality control and will just put out any old shite and expect others to support it. We could do with people stepping up their level of professionalism, but once again, that isn't a Nottingham-only criticism. The same can be said for all music everywhere.

Tell us about the Sureshot Ethos
SureShot's ethos is all about quality. When you buy a SureShot release, or go to a SureShot night, you know that everything about it is quality because we know quality stands the test of time. Substance over volume...

How have you seen hiphop change and how does it make you feel?
We've seen hiphop change from being underground to mainstream. In 2005, there are few things that hiphop culture hasn't touched, from other genres of music to media, fashion and journalism etc. We personally think it's a good thing. If it means we can make a living out of doing what we love then its fine by us.
The only thing we don't like is the amount of vultures it's created who are only here to rape and pillage what they can and water it down and repackage the scene without knowledge or understanding of the culture. All we can do is put out music and put on events that we're feeling and hope others feel the same.