Earlier this week, the New Zealand Music Commission held an industry party to mark New Zealand Music Month (which begins today), the bash highlighting the 10 best-selling Kiwi-made singles of the past decade.
Among those invited was P-Money, aka Pete Wadams. That isn't surprising, really, given he co-wrote a few of those songs: Scribe's 2003 breakthrough No 1 hit, Stand Up/Not Many; 2004 effort Stop The Music, which also had Scribe on microphone duties; and another No 1 single, 2008's Everything, featuring vocalist Vince Harder.
Add Tiki Taane's Always On My Mind to the list of those tracks helped into that top 10 by way of P-Money's independent music label, Dirty Records, and the slight, shaven-headed chap who grew up in South Auckland has, as they say in hip-hop circles, bragging rights.
In conjunction with Kog Transmissions, P-Money set up Dirty Records in 2002, the same year he released his debut album Big Things. His latest record, the aptly titled Everything, comes out on the same label on Monday.
An accomplished turntablist, whose mixing and scratching skills earned him third-equal place in the 2001 World DMC Championships, P-Money has become one of New Zealand's most influential producers. Indeed, he won a 2004 New Zealand Music Award (Tui) for best producer for his work on Scribe's multi-platinum debut album, The Crusader, as well as Songwriter of the Year the same year.
Although his success has led him to collaborations with a range of international artists, the most prominent being American hip-hop star Akon, P-Money has shopped local for his latest effort, largely relying on his friends to help him join the dots between rap, rock, rave and R'n'B.
As on Big Things and 2004 follow-up Magic City, P-Money's old mate Scribe can be heard on a few tracks, as can others: David Dallas, Aaradhna, Vince Harder and Pluto singer Milan Borich hop on board, their vocals adding to the roller-coaster ride.
"I think the different styles are going to appeal to different tastes," P-Money says via phone from Auckland during a brief break from DJing and plugging the new album in Australia.
"Hopefully, somebody who picks up the record because they liked the sound of the single Everything will find out they like the harder hip-hop styles as well. Or vice-versa-they might come at it from the rap angle and then get into the dance and rock stuff.
"You might be listening to a track; it's going a certain way, then I take a left turn. Hopefully, you come with me. I like to surprise people. I like to do that in my DJ sets as well. I think this album is a closer representation of what I do live than anything I've done before.
"I think the climate right now ... people's tastes are a little bit broader; people are open to different sounds. They take a song from here, another from there and make a play-list. That's the culture we live in and I think the album represents that as well - a little bit of this style, a bit of that, and I'll make a record out of it."
Englishman Fat Boy Slim, the former Housemartins member turned big-beat star, once said, "it's the grit that makes the groove", summing up a production ethos that values feel over the finer details.
Given P-Money's predilection for music designed to make dancers bump and grind, it's not surprising to discover he agrees with that philosophy.
"The feel trumps everything else. If the feel is right, you can compensate for any little technical things. At the same time, there will be certain things that I am really particular about. You just have to trust your instincts as a producer. That is my role. I compose music then turn them into great recordings."
For his latest effort, P-Money has collected a good couple of years of endeavour, much of which has been done in his home studio in Western Springs, Auckland.
"To be honest, the space is a single bedroom," he explains. "It is not incredibly big, but the secret weapon I have is my good friend and engineer Evan Short [of drum and bass outfit Concord Dawn].
"Evan has really good ears. He is a great engineer. He knows about frequencies, the balance of things. But he also understands music really well. He's the guy who is really particular about pitch and stuff. When we are doing vocals, he will notice the one slightly flat note ... it's nice to have someone there to bounce back and forth with.
"The single Everything stretches back 18 months to two years. That was released at the end of 2008. That was a really strong single, but I didn't really have a solid idea of what the next album might be so I thought I'd just put it out.
"Over the past 18 months, every time I made a track I thought was strong enough or had the right elements, I'd put it aside in a short list. I kept chipping away without a solid deadline and at the end of last year I thought I had enough.
"The process is still the same. I start off with a groove, the backbone of the beat. Then a melodic idea will go in, a loop that forms the basis of a song. Then I'll add things or take them away to give it dynamics. Some things suit singing; other things suit rapping. So I will call on my cast of friends and get them involved."
There is a symbiotic aspect to the inclusion of Scribe, Harder, Dallas and Aaradhna on P-Money's new album. Talented vocalists in their own right, they are important to him; yet he has also been important to them, helping to break them to a wider audience.
"I take your point as far as introducing artists goes. It is something I have made a priority of over the years. If I do hear a new talent, someone special, I like to get them in the studio. I have the opportunity to bring them out.
"People listen to my productions so they will take a shot on a new talent because it has got my name on it. That's a good thing.
"It just felt comfortable and right to work with guys I've collaborated with extensively in the past. It's just a really natural fit - so comfortable, in fact, that I'd be making the tunes for these songs and they were the guys who were around anyway, so they heard them first. It happened quite organically. They are my friends so they were always nearby."
TOP OF THE POPS
For the record, the top 10 best-selling NZ singles of the past decade are:
1- They Can't Take That Away - Ben Lummis SonyMusic
2- Always On My Mind - Tiki Taane DirtyDub/DRM
3 - Stand Up/Not Many - Scribe Dirty/Warner
4 - Brother - Smashproof feat. Gin MTC/Universal
5 - Black Box - Stan Walker SonyMusic
6 - One Day - OpShop Siren/174East
7 - Everything - P-Money feat. Vince Harder Dirty/DRM
8 - Bathe In The River - Mt Raskil PS feat. Hollie Smith EMI
9 - Stop The Music - P-Money feat. Scribe Dirty/Warner
10 - Swing - Savage DawnRaid/Universal
