Tag Of The Day! P-Money ‘Slang’
Hip hop has come a long way in its thirty or so year history. Originally dismissed as a gimmick, rap later emerged as the most visceral sound of a generation and has now settled as the world’s most widespread musical style – not to mention the biggest selling. Although there has always been light and shade between rap’s more pop influenced and hardcore elements, it would seem that the genre’s recent filtrations with commercial dance music have seen rap take a more pop lead focus than ever before. If you look at any of the world’s charts you’re likely to find plenty of rap; but rocking breakbeats are likely to be replaced by funkless four to the flour beats and intelligent rhymes abandoned in favour of monosyllabic chants. Fans of underground hip hop could be forgiven for thinking their favourite music was somehow taken away and ceremonially neutered without their knowledge.
Thankfully, while the more commercial side of hip hop continues it’s all conquering success, there are more underground acts making un-clichéd and interesting music – a great example of which is P-Money’s ‘Slang’. A London based MC, P-Money emerged from the same scene that gave the world Dizzee Rascal and Dubstep. His track is uniquely British, not just because of the record’s extensive use of speaker busting Drum & Bass basslines, but because it is simply about London ‘Slang’. Terms of endearment such as fam (family), cuz (cousin) and bredrin (brethren/good friend) make up the chorus. As an authentic statement of urban culture, the record far surpasses the majority of what American rappers can come up with. With fellow London rapper Tinie Tempah set to break the States in collaboration with Snoop Dogg, now could be the time when the British sell rap music back to the Americans.
