6.12.11

LONDONERS: MC NO LIMIT AKA JAY BUDMAN

LONDONERS is a part of the blog which is dedicated to interesting people living in London

the first article here is and interview with urban music artist MC No Limit aka Jay Budman dated back to March 2011

No Limit and Pharoahe Monch on Hip-Hop Kemp

Upcoming grime dubstep and dnb artist with great potential - Jay Budman aka MC No Limit talks to Vadim Kasperovics about universities as an alternative to street crime in urban culture, and the secrets of how to benefit from being an independent artist. 
Evgeniy, better known as Jay Budman or MC No Limit is one step away from becoming a new major urban music artist. The 24 year-old is busy recording his debut album, producing music, performing in The Ministry of Sound and writing a dissertation for his final year at the University of East London, a place where Tinchy Stryder was doing the same things a few years ago. But he finds some time to show me the university sound facilities he is using to create his music and have a talk about what’s going on down there.



While we walk from the SU Bar to the studios I get the impression that Jay knows every single person on the campus, and it seems like every single person on the campus is involved in music production, MCing or DJing. When we are inside, powerful sounds of grime basslines are almost crashing down the building. The room is packed with people, everybody is checking out new tracks.

 “Do you think that these days universities that give an opportunity to develop creatively can be more appealing to the inner city youth than street life?” I ask Jay when the rest of the crew leaves the room and I can finally get down to my work “Obviously, man! I don’t think it’s worth it to be on the streets all day. I come out of my house and see the same people everyday standing there on the corner selling drugs and doing stupid things. Maybe it will give you some money to have a few days of nice life, to party, drive nice cars… but at the end you will spend years in jail. As I see it, I don’t want to follow that way of life. That’s what made me want to do what I do now, something that is closer to my heart. It’s very important to get your mind right and dedicate yourself to something positive and that will give you a good outcome and a good path to go through”.


Jay knows what he is talking about.  He started getting musical education while still living in Russia, and then, when he was 11, his family moved to the UK. Spending his youth on the streets of East London at the age of 13 he got introduced to hip-hop and later to grime and instantly started experimenting with rapping. But the first significant lift off of Budman’s career came only last year when he won his university’s Talent Contest and got the opportunity to share the stage of the 02 Arena with already well-established in the music business artists - K.I.G and Dan-e-o. This is where he got his first important contacts from the inside of the major industry and got invited to do his show at the Ministry of Sound together with DJ Hutch and DJ Samson on a regular basis. “To succeed all you have to do is to dedicate yourself, deliver your ideas and stay creative. You will meet some people and will get an insight of the industry” everything sounds very simple when he says it.

Jay is very passionate about what he is doing and he likes to share that passion with others. In 2009 he organized a creative project and workshops for youngsters from the streets helping them to make their first steps in music. He believes that it is important “to have a broad vision and do something positive to inspire people. I also try to put some positive messages in my music” and he has a lot of platforms to do that - apart from making grime, Jay also produces dubstep, drum and base, hip-hop, garage and funky house.

JAY BUDMAN - BABYLON by NoLimitProduction
No Limit - If I Die Tonight ft. I1 by NoLimitProduction

In the last 3 years Jay released 3 mixtapes both as Jay Budman and No Limit. The explanation of duality of his name is very simple “MC No Limit is my name for Russian market [Jay has lyrics in both English and Russian]. Over there, urban music culture is very hip-hop influenced, so I thought “why not try to make grime in Russian”. And there is markets for that – a lot of people say that they appreciate what I do, even those, who never listened to hip-hop before. It’s because get to them through my drum and base and dubstep. And Jay Budman – is the way people call me here, on the streets, and everywhere where I go they call me like that. In the UK I am more focused on my dubstep and drum and base shows that I’m doing right now, that is the most suitable music for me to drop my bars on”.

No Limit and DJ Hutch  performing at The Ministry of Sound
Jay is working hard and stopping is not a part of his plan. “At the moment I am working on my EP, which, I hope, will be released in July. I am trying to get production from well-established producers like Teddy, S.K.I.T.Z. Beatz, and Sibling.” Even though he tries to play with the big industry names, he doesn’t think that it is necessary to have a contract with a big label to be successful. “Online music industry is now very big. You don’t need to invest hundreds thousands – video productions are there, music productions are there, everything is on the tip of your fingertips. The people who want to listen to you are there, so if you are making a good product, will get in touch with the right people… You can even set up your own label and maybe be a conglomerate to a major. With independency you get more royalties and if you know how to deal with all the marketing, promotion and publishing, if you are a good businessman – it’s easy. And there is nothing bad in being [what people call] ‘commercial’, as long as you do something original, something that comes from your heart”.
Vadim Kasperovics


“My slogan is – ‘Spray bars, not bullets!’” – Jay Budman aka MC No Limit


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