Over the last two weeks, Mark has been on my mind.  Over the last few years, I have lost many of my friends and family due to health issues or complications.

I think about my own journey and whilst making my film the amount of people I lost close to me while I carried on working.  I was asked once why to you carry doing what you’re doing.  One of my answers is that many people who were part of my journey either passed on or their lives took them in a different direction.  Some people who are still alive are proud to see me still doing what I’m doing. Living their dream so to speak.  Keeping that dream alive. 

Before Mark passed I was heading to NYC to show people a rough finished draft of my film ‘looking for the perfect beat’.  Before flying out Mark would ring me regularly from his home in Germany.  Late evenings we would play each other beats, and Mark would play me his new music and talk about his ideas. I sent him the links to my film which he watched and just a couple days before I left the UK he talked to me about his thoughts on my movie. 

What happened after most people know.  Mark is no longer here.   He has left a strong body of work that all of us can be proud of. 

Back in the 1990s when the internet was still dial up.  Websites were all code and videos were in flash format I had a site called www.nu-skratch.co.uk.  I was always out with my camera and my friend Chris Malbon was designing and building websites.  He was up on the new technology.  My close friend Steve Bridger understood HTML and would put up the content I created onto the site as and when I passed it on to him, which was all the time.  One of the reasons he left the crew.  I went to college and learned HTML to continue the site.

In 2000 I was at Marks home in Kingston where I filmed this piece.  Extracts from this appeared on my site back at that time.  I held on to this very preciously for years.

As hip hop is changing, ideas, attitudes, and even it’s history are being re-written I felt compelled to put this out.  Whatever your thoughts are, you are free to think them.  I put this out so people don’t forget who Mark B was. To get to know him a little more about him and see coming from Mark his passion for his craft.  He was a big part of my journey.  A good friend. I appreciate the friendship we had and I will never forget you.

Thanks to Casz from M.S.I for helping me film my part. Huge thanks to Damian Wilkes for introducing me to Mark back in 93. Samebeat Records.