Scratching the surface

SCOTT KARA experiences the excellent, the bad, and the ugly when he is confronted by the latest hip-hop releases


Let it be said P-Money shouldn't have won producer of the year for Scribe's album The Crusader. Yes, there is no denying Scribe's star status, the number of albums he has sold (at last count more than 60,000 copies), or the by-now classics Not Many and Stand Up.

But, while the production may have been hot on those singles and a few other tracks, the album overall was flimsy.

P-Money would be better to be rated on Magic City, the follow-up to his 2002 debut Big Things. Where Big Things was inventive and a step-up for production standards in this country, it still sounded like a young man on his first album getting away with it out of sheer enthusiasm.

Magic City is a huge advance. It's slick, big, and dynamic. He builds you up on opening track 321, and the devious-sounding We, then chills you out on Keep On Calling, featuring the soothing vocals of Senegal-born Atlanta resident Akon.

P-Money's knack for writing anthems remains - see current single Stop The Music with its laidback Scribe verse, beautifully contrived chorus of banging beats'n'scratches, and screaming guitar solo. While there is nothing as catchy and classic as Scribe's Not Many, or The Xpedition from Big Things, this is the better album overall.

From the opening bars of Feelstyle's Samoan hoe-down Su'ga ea! you know you're going to be entertained in the best possible PI way. You'll laugh, dance, cry, and get down. By combining Samoan and English effortlessly, bringing together a diverse range of collaborators including NZ Idol star Camillia Temple and Dimmer's Shayne Carter, and telling stories of love, family and stealing food, Feelstyle has succeeded in making a pioneering album. The single, Su'amalie/Ain't Mad At You, is the Samoan Poi E and is just as loveable as that little Maori hit from 1984.

Feelstyle has been on the scene since 1987 - so Break It To Pieces has been 17 years in the making. Unfortunately, it shows. It's long at 17 tracks, though its best songs are great - like the funky Going Home or the super-suave If Only She Knew. And it's well-produced, thanks to the talents of Submariner, aka Andy Morton. But it all gets a bit samey.

Still, maybe it's the perfect hip-hop album for the summer because by then we will all be on island time.

Battle MC-ing is meant to hone one's talents, but in the case of Christchurch-bred, Auckland-based Wordperfect it has seemingly made him clumsy - or is it just that he's trying to be too clever? It's just all a bit too verbose, which makes much of this laboured, and silly. But, the producers and collaborators (including Dub Asylum, DJ CXL and Hamish Clark) are inspired. These musical contributions - ranging from deep, deep bass to xylophone to some mean scratches - are its saving graces. Special mention has to go to the track Real Life Reel which has the most adorable chorus that is up there with that Feelstyle hit.

Meanwhile, the latest from Murs, American hip-hop's next big thing, comes with explicit lyrics that will be good for you. He's super-dirty, but unlike many of hip-hop's current crop, he is coarse without the bravado that makes it ridiculous such as when he's telling us about the intimate details of his first quick and nervous sexual encounter.

Not only are Murs' beats refreshing, but so is that confessional content.

He's been touted as one of the most important hip-hop musicians to emerge this decade. With tracks like the delightful - yes, delightful - single Bad Man!, the disjointed masterpiece 3:16, or the hillbilly-tinged Walk Like A Man, it's hard to argue. The Marvin Gaye of hip-hop perhaps? If you want some respite from the likes of 50 Cent, Nelly, and Eminem, then check him out. In his own words: "I'm more Coldplay than I am Ice T". Without the bed-wetting, obviously.

Along with Mos Def, Talib Kweli was part of the group Black Star in the late 90s who took hip-hop back to its roots - steering it away from the gangsta dominance.

Kweli continues his own unique thing and gives hip-hop a more soulful stance while retaining that staunch attitude. His first two solo albums, especially 2002's Quality, were five-star albums. The Beautiful Struggle is up there but the guest appearances - including Faith Evans, Mary J. Blige and Common - water it down, and it lacks the electric soul and attitude of the previous albums. There are some absolute gems here, though. When Blige adds her trills to the slinky beats of I Try, then you know you're listening to something special.

Plant Life are in a universe George Clinton invented in the early 70s. Then Prince entered this universe down a white stairway and fluttered his fingers over the frets to funk up funk even more. And it is a great universe to make music in. Plant Life - comprising producer Panda One and lead singer Jack Splash (from LA hip-hop crew Animal Pharm), singer Dena Deadly, and DJ Rashida - made this album to inspire some serious positivity in music. On tracks like Got2Get2gether4luv and Underwaterluvboogie, Plant Life are flying in a mothership of their own funk. If anything, Jack Splash sounds a little too much like an Andre 3000 clone, but this freaky bunch want to push hip-hop forward, something few are doing.

At 36 years old, LL Cool J is looking pretty cut. And with a good dose of stealth production from Timbaland on this, his 10th album, LL is sounding pretty tough, too. Scatterings of lilting, breathy female vocals lighten the mood occasionally but this is a darker LL Cool J - not the TV star-cum-film star version of late. Apart from the opening track and lead single Headsprung, there are no real bangers here, just a good, steady album. Quite remarkable, considering he has been in the game since 1985.

Shyne got 10 years' jail after the nightclub shooting involving P Diddy (then known as Puff Daddy) and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez in 1999. Puffy and Shyne went on trial, and while Puff was acquitted, Shyne got done. This album is his second and he is still in prison. Unfortunately, the album is devoid of stand-out tracks and lurches rather than flows. His sneering rap style makes you want to tell him to, "Pick up your lip bro', you'll trip over it otherwise". He understandably has a chip on his shoulder, but that doesn't translate to anything worthwhile.

P-MONEY: MAGIC CITY

Herald rating: * * * *

Label: DIRTY/FMR


Producer of the year P-Money returns with his follow-up to Big Things

FEELSTYLE: BREAK IT TO PIECES

Herald rating: * * *

Label:CAN'T STOP MUSIC/FMR

A revolutionary album of Samoan wit and wisdom but bit of a stereo overstayer

WORDPERFECT: SPELLCHECK

Herald rating: * *

Label: INMUSIC


Local Battle MC champ's debut suffers from hardware-software compatibility

MURS: 3:16 THE 9TH EDITION

Herald rating: * * * *

Label: DEFINITIVE JUX/BORDER


American hip-hop's next big thing. No, it's true - on an innovative, entertaining, believable album

TALIB KWELI: THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE

Herald rating: * * * *

Label: RAWKUS


With a celebrity mini-guest list, Brooklyn roots-rapper goes more commercial and it works

PLANT LIFE: THE RETURN OF JACK SPLASH

Herald rating: * * * *

Label: COUNTERFLOW/BORDER

Future-funk and hip-hop with a vocalist who sounds like Outkast's Andre 3000

LL COOL J: THE DEFINITION

Herald rating: * * *

Label: DEF JAM


Veteran hip-hopper keeps bouncing along but there ain't no Momma Said Knock You Out

SHYNE: GODFATHER BURIED ALIVE

Herald rating: * *

Label: GANGLAND RECORD INC

New York rapper whose life story is far more gripping than his latest effort