Chris P Cuts: "I try to use my platform to spotlight younger, lesser known artists to my listeners."
Chris P Cuts still remembers the moment it all clicked. "I got 'Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check' by Busta Rhymes from Woolworths and that was it," he says. What followed was a 25-year obsession with tracing every sample, every drum break, every lifted vocal back to its source. "I'm one of those people that has to know where every aspect of a song I like is from." These days, the veteran DJ and musical director is as likely to champion a Nottingham poet as he is a London salsa band.
His journey from Nike-obsessed teenager to barefoot trainer-wearing forty-year-old mirrors hip hop's own evolution — messy, unpredictable, and constantly expanding. "Hip hop forces you down musical roads you'd never normally go down," he explains, and he's been happily lost down those roads ever since. The obsession runs deep. "They were guarded secrets before the internet," he says of all those samples he’s tracked down over the years. "You had to be in record shops and talk to the 'elders' to try and figure out where the drums were from." We caught up with him to talk about musical rabbit holes, when collecting becomes “primal”, and why he's not going old and bitter on the next generation — not all the time, anyway.
Your mum only bought Nike growing up, so that's all you ever wore. Do you think those early obsessions – whether it's a brand or a sound – end up defining us more than we realise?
I was into hip hop from a young age and got my first hand-me-down turntables from my older brother when I was like ten or eleven. With Nike, I think I was really drawn in by American sports culture — Nike’s a huge part of that. I was big into tennis and basketball and my idols were Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Michael Jordan. Andre Agassi’s Nike gear was my favourite. Then I did a design degree at uni and always wanted to design products for Nike. I actually ended up working with Nike straight out of uni after meeting them at my degree show… So, yeah, I definitely agree that all those early obsessions defined me more than I realised. I'm forty now, wearing barefoot trainers and Clarks to try and properly care for my feet. Things change!
You've said hip hop DJs are collectors first. What do you think is behind that impulse to, I guess, hunt and gather?
Yeah, if you put it like that, it is a very primal thing. Hip hop and other music I was listening to since I was young borrows sounds from everywhere. My brother was a hardcore, break-beat and jungle DJ — samples used in that music were my first exposure to hip hop, acid house, reggae and all the sounds from Jamaica. He was also a big fan of The Prodigy, who were doing genius level sampling on very limited equipment. I liked the downbeat trip hop stuff too. Like, I was obsessed with “6 Underground” by Sneaker Pimps. Hip hop came at a similar time. I got “Woo Hah!! Got You All in Check” by Busta Rhymes from Woolworths and that was it. I think hip hop forces you down musical routes you’d never normally have come across. And I'm one of those people that has to know where every aspect of a song I like is from. They were guarded secrets before the internet — you had to be in record shops and talk to the “elders” to try and figure out where the drums were from, or where the vocals had been lifted. I’m obsessive with this information and I feel like I'm doing the music a disservice if I don’t find out.
You went from spinning hip hop to championing underground music from across the globe. Did that come naturally, or do you think there was a conscious effort to push yourself out of your comfort zone?
It's the same as what I was saying before. Once you find out where all these hip hop sounds are from, you're expanding your musical palette. My ears always go for the '70s soul sounds — I get lost over there. It's music from the heart and it's real classy. You end up at some of the most classic bands and songs ever written, and after sitting with those songs for a few years, you're listening to the original more than the hip hop tune that made you discover it. I’ve started loving certain tunes so much I think, why did the hip hop artist touch that?
I'm always pushing myself out of my comfort zone in everything I do, but I think it was natural for me to expand. Underground music is harder to define these days given how mainstream music is structured, but I'm always open to spotlighting lesser known artists to make my collection and DJ sets a little different from the norm. And if I get into a new genre that would work in my DJ set, I want to know the best, say, ten tunes of the entire genre. That means going through thousands of songs to find those ten. In the process, I find out so much about the genre. But that’s my idea of fun!
Your show is all about finding the forefront of underground music before everyone else does. What's the last thing you discovered that made you think "people need to hear this right now"?
I was the first to get Ezra Collective on after hearing them bubble about the London jazz scene for a few months. I thought they were incredibly talented players and I could hear the hip hop influence straight away. Seeing those guys get to where they have has been incredible, and it lets me know I'm pretty good at this. I stay in my pocket trying to find the next artists and I definitely trust my ears.
For this one, I'm gonna go for an older artist with a 25-year career. He's come to a point where he's so deep with it that I feel everyone needs to hear it. His name is Cappo, he’s from Nottingham, and he's just released two out of a three-LP trilogy called The Capstone Trilogy. The second part, Houses, came out a few months ago. It explores life, the Midlands and working-class grit using a protagonist called P. He conveys the troubles of this male character who's working through dependencies and addictions, realising he still has time to make up for the mistakes of his past.
I'm of a similar generation to Cappo and his words paint pictures so vividly they actually stop me in my tracks… plus it's cheaper than therapy! But he’s a real artist who finishes the product to the highest standard and promotes it across different mediums. He’s just put on an exhibition at the Bonington Gallery in Nottingham, using art to relay the themes from the music. He's getting into the art world in a way I've not seen a smaller, lesser-known artist do. I take my hat off to him. I think Cappo — his real name is Paul Adey — will become one of the most accomplished poets and screenwriters in the next five years.
Throughout the years you've worked with artists like Roots Manuva, Gorillaz Sound System, Iris Gold, Confucius MC and Spoek Mathambo as part of their live setups, but you also DJ parties. For you, what's the difference between being a DJ and being a musical director?
DJing came first for me — I learnt to rock a party first of all. And getting a name in the hip hop scene led to meeting artists who started asking me to be their live DJ. I come from a stage background, so I was used to all the high-stress situations that come with live shows. I’ve always loved doing shows with a band too — I thrived being part of a unit instead of doing it alone. But being the most hip hop thinker in these spaces just meant artists trusted my vision, and it just rolled into being a musical director. I didn't even know what that was at first! I thought the MD was the managing director.
The difference is stress levels. There’s way more pressure with the live shows — more weight on your shoulders and more people looking at you. That took its toll and I think my solo DJ career suffered. I should have taken some DJ opportunities over the band stuff. Hindsight, hey! I'm still rolling with Confucius MC — he’s just released his biggest LP to date, Songs for Lost Travellers, on Shabaka Hutchings' Native Rebel Recordings. The last show was supporting Homeboy Sandman and it was such a good time. I think live shows will always be part of my DJing.
You've called out people who think owning Serato makes them a DJ. In an age where everyone's got access to every song ever made, what do you think separates a real selector from someone just playing tracks?
I've chilled out over the years. Anyone is free to do what they like and it's been inspiring seeing DJing get to where it is now. It's so much more accessible than it's ever been. If it makes you happy then go for it, whatever the format. The most important thing is the music and musicians and producers that make it all possible — they seem to get forgotten!
But streaming playlists into CDJs and Stems is more concerning. It means DJs aren't even buying the music anymore! That doesn't seem fair. I'm a collector of digital music too and the music I'm making a living off should be paid for correctly. It's a tough one. I do everything I can to not end up old and bitter, but I’m definitely pushing the younger generation to respect the art form.
Your sets span everything from afrobeat to garage to gospel. How do you read a room and know when to drop that left-field track that could either kill the vibe or elevate it?
You gotta do the right events to really dig deep with it. There's nothing better than playing to a knowledgeable crowd where I can get into what really makes me tick. You play a tune that on another dancefloor they wouldn't know, but here everybody cheers and sings the words back. Those are the moments!
Most importantly, it comes down to knowing the music. When you know the music in your crates inside out, you'll know when to play something different. I used to think it was all about tempo, but that's just one aspect. But if it's needed and the situation requires it, I will gladly rinse through some big hits — they are hits for a reason!
Right now, today — who or where deserves a shout-out? Someone smashing it behind the scenes, or a spot that's holding it down.
A salsa band called Bonita, run by Santiago Morales, have always got my ear and deserve a huge shout-out. Santiago has turned me onto the Latin side of things and once you've started digging into it, it's just endless gold dust. The community spirit of the band and the events they’re doing are really inspiring. They're doing it for the right reasons. And some of them are turning into stars in their own right — playing for Raye, Incognito, Insxght, and loads more.
The monthly live sessions I’ve been running for the past two years have featured some really incredible artists too. Georgie Sweet, Joshua Idehen, K15, Aanya Martin and loads more. They've all gone onto bigger things. Joshua Idehen's recent tune "Mum Does The Washing" seems to have finally worked — it's the world explained through the sentence "your mum doing the washing." Genius! Also, everyone should check out Georgie Sweet's new LP I Swear To You… and I'm obsessed with "Haze" by Magnetic Family right now.
Follow @Chris_P_Cuts and out his monthly Soho Radio show.
FOUND follows the thread. Stay tuned for our conversation with BONITA
Writer: Amber Rawlings