P-Money: Magic City
By Andrew Hughes
As the New Zealand hip hop market grew, P-Money's skill level followed suit and the standard of his beats are now, undoubtedly, world class. So without further ado, Dirty Records present 'Magic City', the follow up to 2001's critically and commercially acclaimed debut 'Big Things'. The addition of international artists is the first obvious difference between the two albums. Roc Raida, Skillz, Sauce Money, Capone - these are prominent names. Aasim, African R'n'B sensation Akon, Mystro and Jatis also feature on the album. The local acts include the elite of this country's emcee's and hold their own against their offshore counter-parts. Label mate Con Psy drops possibly his illest verse to date on the 3,2,1 Remix with PNC, Tyna knocks his authority into Turn It Up, and of course, Scribe blazes up three tracks including the no.1 single Stop The Music. In terms of production, there are a few different techniques incorporated. Energetic songs such as I Had None and 3,2,1, flex finely chopped samples to create a faster pace, where as songs like Get Up Slow, Easy and Two Step are more focused on loops. Keep On Callin is multi layered with piano keys flying over the chorus, and for Turn It Up, P phases the hi-hat and filters the vocals at times. There is a bit of soul influence in the album's beats, and the high pitched 45rpm sampling method can become tiresome, but doesn't really tarnish the overall quality. Definitely one for this summer covering all areas - party, street, love, life et cetera.
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