P-Money - Mo' Money
With new single Everything carving up dancefloors the world over, NZ hip hop star P-Money takes 3D through the ten records that have influenced his style. You may be surprised.
GANGSTARR – MOMENT OF TRUTH
As with every Gangstarr album it’s the legendary DJ Premier handling production duties who steals the show. Primo is the personification of hip hop and his beats are the embodiment of what that New York gritty street rap music is supposed to sound like. This to me is the most solid and sonically amazing of all the Gangstarr records. Premier’s signature chopped sample style is showcased in flawless fashion for all aspiring producers to study from. This album is a masterclass in making beats.
METHOD MAN – BRING THE PAIN
The Wu-Tang catalogue is so deep that it’s not easy to pick any one song or album as the most inspiring or influential for me. But I chose this particular track, as it’s the first time I can recall hearing a vocal sample incorporated into the loop of a song as instrumentation rather than as a lead or backing vocal performance. The RZA was responsible for this crazy little one bar loop which arguably set the stage for one of the most pervasive trends in modern hip hop production. There are a lot more examples that followed this but I have to say Bring the Pain is one of my favourites and definitely an influential track.
ARMAND VAN HELDEN – YOU DON'T KNOW ME
Along with The Bucketheads this track is one of my all time favourite house tunes from the ’90s. As with all my favourite dance music it is based around a dope sample and chopped up like how a hip hop producer might do. The vocal is great too and the rhythm of the drums works really well. There’s just a vibe about this tune that I love. It’s classic.
KENNY DOPE PRESENTS THE MAD RACKET – SUPA
This is a really old record. I think it came out in 1992. It was the first instrumental hip hop record that I ever bought and I loved it. It was a new concept to me that you could release music that didn’t have vocals on it and it could still work as a song. This really inspired me (at age 14) to make my own beats and that I wouldn’t necessarily need to sing or rap to make records!
JAY-Z – THE BLUEPRINT
The Blueprint is one of Jay-Z’s best (if not his best) albums. Production on this was dominated by two relatively unknown names at the time: Just Blaze and Kanye West. The sped-up soul sample sound that they pioneered on this record (with a nod to those loops the RZA had been using) was infectious and totally changed the sound of rap for years to come. For better or worse, there are a million bedroom producers whose sound is inextricably linked to this album.
NAS – ILLMATIC
Illmatic is another all time classic rap album with flawless music. This time produced by the all-star heavyweight line-up of producers: Pete Rock, Large Professor, DJ Premier, Q-Tip and L.E.S. The loops and drums on each track are beautifully rugged, soulful and heavy. Nas truly was at his very best so early in his career. If you are new to rap and feel like the genre does nothing for you then I suggest you get this album and bear witness to how great a hip hop album can be.
JUSTICE – CROSS
Justice are the shit. I like the way they take samples and destroy them in such a way that you end up with some synthesized monster dance music that sounds like it’s eating your speakers. I wanna be like them when I grow up.
BUCKETHEADS – THE BOMB
Kenny Dope was behind the scenes on this one. I followed Kenny Dope’s productions right through my teenage years as he moved between the worlds of house and hip hop beats. I liked that about him and truth be told he probably single handedly opened my ears up to dance music. This tune has all the elements that I love to hear and use in my own music: horns, vocal samples and big drums!
TIMBALAND – SHOCK VALUE
I give Timbaland total respect for being able to reinvent his sound every four or five years and still come out with huge chart topping hits. I love the synth elements to this record, equal parts rave and ’80s new wave. He smashed it with the hits on this album and basically forced anybody making RNB/pop to follow his lead or be forgotten. Ha!
DR. DRE – CHRONIC 2001
Mix-wise this is the most hi-fi best sounding rap record of all time. Plus the singles are all certified classics that get played to this day. The sound of this record was so bright and shiny and opposite to everything I was listening to at the time that it kinda threw me off for about a month. I had to adjust my ears to hearing such bright and clear drums and instruments on a hip hop album. It was a change in the way rap would be made from here on out. I still reference a lot of my mixes to the songs on this album.
WHO: P-Money
WHAT: Plays Kinselas Middle Bar & Sosueme at Q Bar
WHEN: Friday 5 December
MORE: myspace.com/pmoneymusic