Album Review: P-Money - Gratitude

Gratitude is difficult to divorce from its context. P-Money is a New Zealander, a beat-maker from across the ditch made good. To put this release together he made his way to the US, inked a deal with Duck Down and worked with some reasonably prominent people. This makes it inevitable, we say, that Gratitude is more than just some solid beats and useful raps. After instances like Seth Sentry performing on Fallon and 360 having a middling time SXSW, this album is the latest answer to the question we continue to ask ourselves: where does our hip hop sit in the US? Are we still just poor cousins?

With The Hardest we get something of an answer. P-Money rolls out the red carpet for Billy Danze and Lil' Fame of MOP. The result is immense: horn-driven boom bap punctuated by braggadocio, brashness and blows. Killuminati – horrific title aside – is also notable. Our host provides a sense of urgency as Buckshot shares his conspiracy theories. Say It Again is perhaps P-Money's best here as a sliced up soul sample is used for both rhythm and melody.

This is no end-to-end triumph, though. Welcome To America jars. First, it reinforces P-Money's position as an outsider, a man from Somewhere Else. Second, it's one of P's more pedestrian backdrops. Gratitude, then? To whom should P-Money be grateful? Those of us who've enjoyed his beats for near on a decade, perhaps? Or maybe to his American backers and collaborators who've supported him on this one. What we have here is engaging, but the cultural cringe is never far away. You're good enough, P-Money. You just have to believe in yourself.