Top 10 of the Decade in Real Groove

In the December issue of Real Groove I managed to sneak in the Top 10 of the Decade for both Singles ("Take Me Home") and Albums (Bazooka Kid). Thanks guys! Click the pics below and check it out.

Bazook's Theme video

Raptor suit on Trade Me now

LOL x SMH x WTF

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing.aspx?id=256504381&ed=true

raptor suit stolen

Gutted. The Raptor suit got stolen from the Dirty Records office. If any one has seen it, get in touch.

PNC - Half Kast video

Chill clip for a chill song. Directed by Warren Green.

"1/2 Kast" video stills

Video dropping later this month...

I Love The Islands Relief Concert

I will performing at this on October 19th. Please go out and buy a ticket to show your support.


After the tragic events in Samoa last week, a group of top New Zealand entertainers have rallied together for a massive benefit concert on Monday 19th October 2009 at the Vector Arena in Auckland.

When the Tsunami hit Samoa last week, it personally affected Scribe and Savage who lost their family villages and family members in the disaster. Along with Dawn Raid, Oscar Kightley and Ole Maiava, they rapidly organized a dream line up of top NZ musicians who had no hesitation in donating their performances to this worthy cause.

All businesses, personnel and artists have given their services for free, therefore 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Samoa.

We urge all New Zealanders to support this event to aid our fellow citizens of Samoa.

Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin dates and line ups to be announced shortly.

‘I LOVE THE ISLANDS’
Samoa Relief Concert
Hosted By:
Oscar Kightley

Featuring performances by:
Neil Finn & Tim Finn
Dave Dobbyn
Bic Runga
Savage
Scribe
Hollie Smith
Elemeno P
Nesian Mystik
Jordan Luck Band
J.Williams
Che-Fu & Kratez
Open Souls
Kirsten Morrell
Sweet & Irie
DJ Sirvere
Aaradhna
PNC
Devolo
Mareko
King Kapisi
Feelstyle
Adeaze
Cydel
Ardijah
Lapi Mariner

Venue: Vector Arena, Mahuhu Crescent, Parnell, Auckland, New Zealand
Date: Monday October 19th, 2009
Tickets: only $25.00 from www.ticketmaster.co.nz
On Sale: midday Friday 9th October 2009

whats up fat lips?

and I say "coolin"...

Its been a minute since I last updated on the going on's of me myself and I, so here's a few notes on what your bro's been up to...

We are currently hard at work on the videos for "1/2 Kast" and "Bazooka's Theme" which will both be on your screens before the years out. Had a few set backs that put everything on pause, but they should be here soon. The new version of "1/2 Kast" is currently jamming on radio stations around the country, and features a new chorus from up and coming R&B songstress Erakah.

I'm playing at Rhythm and Vines for the first time this year. I'll be doing my own set on the 29th, and joining my mates State Of Mind on stage on the 30th. Looking forward to raging Gizzy styles for New Years with the star studded line-up and peaking teens.

Today they had the first announcement for Big Day Out, and I'm proud to say I was up in the mix. They've gone straight up the guts with a classic BDO type line-up this year, and I'm amped to see Dizzee Rascal on the main stage. I opened up for him last year at the Power Station and it was pretty... bonkers to say the least (see what I did there?). Gutted that the David Bowie rumours were all shit, though I somehow doubt he would have done my favourite jam of his.

I've also been in the studio starting work on album number three, mainly with the uber talented Forty One. We've got several demo's done, and I'm feeling the new direction of this one. Can't wait to get it out to the masses!

Oz Gigs

Yo I'm off to Oz soon. Come say whats up.

Thursday 17th September @ The Espy, Melbourne
Friday 18th September @ Bondi Beach Road Hotel (early show) & Melt (late show), Sydney
Saturday 19th September @ The Church, Brisbane

CHCH gigs

I will be in Christchurch this weekend to do a couple of gigs. First up is the Uni Re-Orientation gig at USCA Ballroom with my boys David Dallas and Bulletproof. Following that, me and Dave are rolling to Double Happy to do some jams with some of the citys heavy hitters. DJ's Penfold and Mouli will be on the decks. Should be fun son.

real groove 5 star reviewage

In the latest Real Groove magazine veteran New Zealand Hip-Hop commentator Kerry Buchanan blessed Bazooka Kid with a coveted 5 star review. Stoked! Click on the image to read it in full.

tvnz reviewage

Nice lil review for Bazooka Kid by Joachim Hackshaw from TVNZ. You can read it here.

fly or fresh to death, head to toe till the day I rest

Go get your some gears yo.

RIP

Still reeling from the loss of a true hero of mine, in music and in life.

The Manawatu Standard interviewed me for a reaction on the day. You can read it here.

playing @ khuja

Playing at Khuja Lounge tonight with Mikey Rockwell and Manuel Bundy. Come on down!

herald reviewage

The notoriously tough music critics at The New Zealand Herald gave Bazooka Kid a glowing 4 star review. Click the image above to read it in full size. Thanks to Scott Kara for showing love.

Behind The Music (part 7)

07:"Gone" featuring Che-Fu (produced by Fire & Ice)
I heard the beat early 2008 from Jordan of Fire & Ice, but he told me they'd already sent it to Smashproof for their Weekend album and were waiting to see what they'd do with it. I decided to write the verses to it anyway, knowing I could always adapt the lyrics to another beat if necessary. The original demo was even more stripped back, and the piano loop to me had a real graceful yet sombre feel. I guess the inspiration for the subject matter going with this beat was movies like Donnie Darko and Requiem For A Dream that utilized emotive piano lines and coupled them with images of sadness and pain. The two people in the song are a combination of people I knew or heard of growing up. I kind of describe this song as the anti-"Saturday Getaway". That song was a dedication to the good times growing up in Palmerston North, hanging with friends, club hopping and what not, but this was the negative side I saw. Addiction and violence are the two factors that impacted peers of mine to ruin their lives the most, specifically gang affiliation and meth.

Once Jordan gave me the word that Smashproof weren't going to use it, I started thinking who I could get on the hook and there were a few different people who gave it a shot. Awa recorded a melody drunk as on my Garageband one night. Then when I was chilling with Chong Nee he wrote a hook and laid it at his studio. I decided neither worked completely, so we thought it could be nice trying a talk box version of Neezy's version. We tried to emulate the Roger sound with various plug-ins Evan had, and when that didn't work we actually bought a talk box. In the end we realized with that effect the lyrics became pretty unintelligible so, it was back to the drawing board. In the meantime, Jordan switched the beat slightly, as the original version had some Danja-esque synth chords that seemed a little out of date. He took them out and added the guitar lick.

I thought from the very start that Che Fu would sound right on it, but I hadn't seen him in a while and I hadn't repaid the favour for his appearance on Rookie Card yet, so I felt a bit shame to ask him at first. It was getting close to the album deadline though, so I decided to bounce a version and give it to him anyway to see if he was feeling it. He didn't answer his phone the first few times I rang, and people had always said that Che can be hard man to track down. Funnily enough, when I walked out of P-Money's house to go drop the CD to Che's manager, Che himself was standing at the mailbox. He was helping Pete's next door neighbour (Che's dad) move house, so I gave him the track there and there. Suffice to say, he was digging it and we recorded it the next week.

This is my party

You're welcome, you're all welcome! ©Kanye

And to get you in that "party" zone...

real groove x free mp3

In the new issue of Real Groove I have my first really extensive article in mainstream media, with a three page spread about Bazooka Kid written by Duncan Grieve. He's been a major supporter of the album since his review of "Take Me Home", and its much appreciated.

Also if you want to grab a free MP3 of "It Doesn't Matter" off the album, click this link. There's a dope mini-review of the album too, if you want more proof before purchase.

Behind The Music (part 6)

06:"VSOP" featuring David Dallas (produced bt Beat Kamp Muzik)
As long as I'm making albums, I think its safe to say your gaurunteed two things... a song about drinking and a David Dallas feature.

This was one of the last songs we did for the album, but it was a beat that I'd had for a while. One day, after a heavy night in the clubs with Dave, I showed him all the stuff I'd been working on for Bazooka Kid. None of the songs I'd done were really screaming for a rap feature, so at that point I didn't think I was actually gonna have another MC on the album. So I played some of the instrumentals I had in reserve, and Dave was instantly vibing on this Beat Kamp one, unceremoniously announcing that it was "better than any of the beats on the album". I already had a verse, so I wrote another, came up with the hook and sent that demo to him to write his verse to it. When we recorded it though, we had nothing for a bridge from the chorus to the verses, so we came up with that on the spot. I don't think Dave wanted to do the singing, but me and Evan made him, and it turned out nice.

Aaron from Beat Kamp is someone who I really wanted on the album too. I'd met him through MZRE and done a song with them on their mixtape when they still lived in NZ. I went over and hung at his pad in Brisbane too (he has an ill studio set-up) and I was just impressed by his diversity as an artist and his dedication to music. Some producers would just rest on their laurels after producing something like "Swing", but his work ethic is right up there.

Sometimes instrumentals will just put a picture in my head of a scene, and the vision I got from this was just dudes driving around town, city lights reflecting off the bonnet of the car. The porno sax at the start gives it that 80's Miami Vice type swag, so if we ever did a clip it should probably look something like this.

Lyrically this song is Roc-A-Fella influenced all day, something that is no secret to anyone who's listened to me and Daves stuff. I've always thought our collabo's have dope chemistry, similar to a Sigel and Jay, and we got something coming up for the masses soon, so keep yo ear to the street for that one.

Bazooka Kid available tomorrow + tracklist

TRACKLIST

1. Intro (produced by Fire & Ice)
2. Bazooka's Theme (produced by Forty One & Evan Short)
3. Find Me feat. Chong Nee (produced by Chris Laupama)
4. Moonlight (produced by Official)
5. What's Up (produced by P-Money)
   
6. V.S.O.P feat. David Dallas (produced by Beat Kamp Muzik)
   
7. Gone feat. Che Fu (produced by Fire & Ice)
   
8. Take Me Home feat. Mz J (produced by Forty One)
   
9. Tonight (produced by Forty One)
   
10. It Doesn't Matter (produced by JSquared)
    
11. New Day feat. Tyra Hammond (produced by JSquared)
    
12. 1/2 Kast (produced by David Atai)
    

Available everywhere June 2nd

Behind The Music (part 5)

05: "Whats Up" produced by P-Money

I wrote "What's Up" early in 2008, and funnily enough it was the second to last song we finished for the album. I grabbed the beat off P-Money when he was showing me a bunch of stuff he'd been working on for his album, and I remember instantly liking how the beat had a simultaneously shiny/sparkly yet raw rap feel.

The inspiration for the lyrics was a classic verse from Andre 3000 on Devin The Dude's "What A Job", where he rhymed about a couple talking to him on the street and telling him how his music influenced them. Everything in that song is something someone has said to me face to face, or something I've read online. I wrote the first verse pretty easily, just jotting down the usual positive shit people say to you on the street. The part about the guy mentioning the tat on his arm dedicated to his friend is true. I played a sweet 16 party in East Auckland, and a dude come up to me and told me his mate had recently died in a crash, and that he was an aspiring rapper who looked up to me. He just said he liked my stuff cause it reminded him of his bro, and that stuck with me as a high point in feedback I've gotten. I didn't want to make it a 'everybody loves Sam' ego fest though, so I wanted to flip it and talk about the negative side too. People have said that its a dope concept using the same verse structure, but it was really me just being lazy and not wanting to write another verse. I sat on the song for ages cause I had no idea what to do for the third verse, until I realized it didn't need one.

Me and Pete both knew the song needed a lot more added to it though, so we grabbed the Nas "One Love" acapella and he did some cuts. Then he sat down with Evan and they just went through different sounds until something caught his ear. At first I didn't know if the synths were going to work, but the way he layered the parts for the hook really brought the track to life and reminded me a bit of Kanye's Graduation sound. With only one track on the album, Money showed why he's NZ's illest producer.

Behind The Music (part 4)

04:"Moonlight" (produced by Official)
Moonlight was the very first song we did for Bazooka Kid, and really set the tone of the albums soundscape. Its produced by Official, who also produced the first single off Rookie Card, Just Roll. He had sent a CD to P-Money with like 40 beats, and I skipped through it one day at Pete's and ripped the ones I was feeling off the bat. I liked the contrast between the sparseness of the verses, and the overdriving synths on the chorus. It was really easy to write, I came up with the hook first, and the verses were fairly straight forward as the beat is around 114bpm, right in my flow-comfort-zone. I was listening to Britney Spears' Blackout album at the time, and really wanted a female pop vocal on the track. It's a funny thing in New Zealand though, how the genre we're kind of void of is straight forward pop. So thinking of who to get on the track would become more of a task than I initially thought. I ended up searching the NZ music section of Myspace for artists who had people like Mariah Carey and Gwen Steffani listed as influences, and Zeisha Fremaux popped up. I flicked her a message on her page, and she came and laid the parts in the studio that same week.

That was also the first session I did with Evan, and I was slightly nervous about it. I knew he made Drum n Bass and was a die-hard Metal head at heart, so I didn't know how he'd react to a song like Moonlight. We knocked it out with ease though, and its one of the mixes I like most off the album. The bottom end booms nicely on the right system, especially during the verses.

This song generated a few suspect looks, mainly from the indy-rap/angry-rap flag wavers, but at the same time it has been my most popular song with another group of I have even more love for... women!

tyson x collins

Haha "In The Air Tonight" can make anything seem epic.

Behind The Music (part 3)

03: "Find Me" featuring Chong Nee (produced by Chris Laupama)
Chris Laupama used to hit me up a lot to listen to his music online. Its hard to gauge the quality of peoples stuff when your listening to 96k streams on a Bebo page, so I didn't pay it too much attention. Then he somehow got my Hotmail email address, added me on MSN Messenger, and sent me a Mediafire link to a zip file of beats. I thought I should at least respect the dudes hustle, so I checked it and was impressed with how polished his sound was for a bedroom producer. None of the beats really suited what I was trying to do though, and were more on the Timbo-house craze of the time. I asked him if he had anything more "rap" and he made the "Find Me" beat that night. That's the main thing I like about working with new dudes, they have that hunger that can fade with artists that have been doing stuff for awhile.

That same week I went over to my boy Chong Nee's house for a classic wednesday night drinking session with him and his crew. After a few rum and cokes we started playing music we were working on, so I threw on that beat, and Neezy just starts singing "FIND ME!". It cracked me up, cause it was instantaneous, the beat had been playing for like 4 bars and he had the hook. We hooked up the mic and did a demo then and there, and a dude he was working with at the time, Tolu Faletolu, jumped on it (he's actually singing a lot of the hook aswell). Chong Nee is loud as hell though, and we were drunk recording it, so his takes were clipping like mad. When we went to do the proper recording Neezy wasn't in the country so we ended up having to use the demo vocals for his parts, that's why there's so much distortion and reverb on the chorus, we were trying to disguise it.

I really like how the track turned out, and I was stoked with the clip too. Only thing is, I wish I had done a remix. I wanted to get Mr Sicc on it, and Tiki had a verse for it that he rapped to me on the Tour Of Dirty that was mean, but it never eventuated. That would of been ill.

Behind The Music (part 2)

02: "Bazooka's Theme" (Produced by Forty One & Evan Short)
The original version of this song was to a different beat, which was produced by P-Money. We used the same sample that Stardust used for "Music Sounds Better With You", put some raw ass drums on it, and got Mz J and Awa from Nesians to sing on the hook. I liked the song, but with Stardust's track only 10 years old, and being such a worldwide smash, we thought we really were taking the piss. Unfortunately me and my constituents at the label didn't come to this conclusion till a week before the album deadline, leaving fuck all time for me to create something else, up to its predecessor's standard. To make it worse, I had my mind made up that the verses on this song had to be on the album, and at the start for the record to flow proper. So I went through all the beats that I hadn't used on my Itunes that had a similar tempo and vibe, and came up with this old Forty One demo he'd made back in 2007. It was a slightly slowed down 80's disco track, with some sinister synths added. Only thing is, I knew Nick had switched computers and lost a lot of his files, including this one, meaning we were gonna have to remake it from scratch. So, I sat down with Evan, and we layed out the basis of the track like Nick (Forty One) had it. We ended up adding a whole lot more to the original demo. Evan switched up the bassline sound, and put a few different synth lines in it, one which is more rave, one which is more Pet Shop Boys. I re-recorded the vocals, and rewrote the hook, just doing it myself this time. Those added elements gave the track a whole new life, and made it the most authentically retro track on the album.

nesian and pnc on the track

In my continuing mission to feature on a song from every genre known to man, here's the clip for "RSVP" by my mates Nesian Mystik. Fun as to shoot, turned out noice!

Vodafone txt code for "Tonight"

If your on Vodafone like myself, just free TXT 'PNC' to 5483 to grab my new song "Tonight". The first week stats have been good, so a few more sales is gonna help gain some chart actioooon.

While we're on the subject of Vodafone phones, my mate I'm staying with in Oz, Sam, just lost his crackberry in a taxi we caught so... RIP to that.

PNC: Behind The Music (part 1)

I always like to hear about the behind the scenes of making music. I love shit like the Classic Albums doco's and The Source's Rhyme & Reason section, and I feel like it gives you a new appreciation and connection with the songs. So I thought over the next few weeks before the album drops, I'd share with you a short anecdote of how we made each song on Bazooka Kid. From the writing process, how I first heard the beat, what other songs influenced it etc etc. So lets kick it off with...01: "Intro" (produced by Fire & Ice)
This beat turned up in my email one day from the Fire & Ice bros, and I knew instantly it was gonna be the intro to the album. It kind of reminded me of the Scarface theme music, and I felt it was the perfect platform to set off the album. Sometimes when you hear a beat, the opening lines just come to you, and with this one I had the first line "No brother, one mother, no dad..." instantly. I ended up with two 16's on some train of thought shit, that I thought were top notch, and left the hook as a nice guitar line that they had put in the demo. I still wanted the track to build a lot more though, as it seemed a little flat. So I kinda referenced a couple of my favourite all-time jams ("In The Air Tonight", "Blackberry Molasses") that I thought had that dramatic feel, and used their technique of not bringing in the full drums till a lot later in the track. I knew my engineer Evan Short would nail it in the mix too, as he's also a revered producer in the electronic scene, and knows all the tricks of the trade to make a track grow from beginning to end. As long as Fire & Ice are still making beats, I think I'll get them to do 'Track 01' on all my albums. They just come through with the perfection.

dirty records x ozzy ozzy ozzy

Australia, are you ready.... I said are you ready! ©50 Cent

Me and the brothers are hitting up the Oxford Art Factory in Sydney tomorrow to bust some flows for the masses. Come check it out! Also performing at Meche in Canberra on friday and at Fannys in Newcastle on Saturday.

buy "tonight"... tonight... or today even!

Forgot mothers day? No problem!

My new single "Tonight" is now available on all the digital platforms your New Zealand heart could ever desire. Click any of the links below and they will take you directly to the song so you can make your purchase.

• Itunes
• Vodafone
• Digirama
• Amplifier
• Telecom available through headset

whoa

new vid from my mate Percieve. Featuring me and Flowz.

PNC - "Tonight" (VIDEO)

Props to Gary John and the Fish N Clips team.

PNC - "Tonight" (AUDIO)

PNC - "Tonight" (produced by Forty One)

Tell a friend. Video premieres on MTV News tomorrow, and will be Youtube active soon after.

And they call me...

Here is the album cover for my sophmore effort Bazooka Kid. Designed by the genius Ryan Marx. Album out June 2nd.

I'll be dropping some tid bits on here about each track in the lead up to the album (a la' The Source's Rhyme & Reason section) to bide you over till the release date. So keep an eye out like Leonardo Vetra for that.

And keep this site on refresh, I'm dropping the "Tonight" audio later this afternoon. C'mon C'MON! ©Mase

coming soon

song and video drops this week... stay tuned...

PNC - Whats Up (produced by P-Money)

So everything for Bazooka Kid has now been locked down, and I felt it was time to share something with the people. The song is titled "Whats Up" and is produced by P-Money (who also lent his talents on the cuts). I thought it was the best track to give an idea of how the rest of the album is sounding.

The song itself is pretty self-explanatory, made up of comments I've got over the years from the fan club and lynch mob.

PNC - "Whats Up" (produced by P-Money)




Bazooka Kid is set in stone to drop early June. I'll be leaking a few more tracks before now and then, and of course there is the single and video "Tonight" that will drop next month. Yes yes y'all, everythings a go!

Feel free to spread the word.

when i chirp shawty chirp back

*shows late pass*

After being convinced that musicians need to be on this by NMS, I have entered the narcissist's playground and current global obsession that is Twitter. 

Hit me up at http://twitter.com/PNC06

hey kids!

Just got finished doing the "Tonight" video last night, directed by Gary John. Was a chilled out day n night (whoooo, whooooo!) shoot that, strangely for a music video, stuck to schedule. Feelin' the shots, so like Hakeem vs Ewing back in the day, I'm amped to see what happens in the post.

As hinted at before, this song and clip is probably gonna ruffle a few feathers, but hey, thats what we do! It'll be hitting the public in a few weeks, so keep your ear to the keyboard.

tell em' thru the wire

Here is the clip for "City On Fire", from my homies State Of Mind featuring ya boy. Yes, my hands are really that big.

In other video news, we're currently fleshing out the treatment for my next single, and will be shooting that in the next few weeks. P-Money gave me a chance to come out and do it live on The Edge Summer Jam Tour over the last week and it went down a treat! My man Matt from Midnight Youth has some footage of it, so hopefully I can upload that ASAP.

in the mix

shades in the studio, oh yeah

Been up in the studio for the last week mixing the sophmore effort Bazooka Kid with my man Evan. Thank the lawd that Pete hooked up the AC prior to us commencing, though sauna status still threatens come mid-afternoon.

Mixing an album is for the most part fun as hell, and occasionally an arduous process. Fun hearing the songs come to full fruition, arduous when some synth line isn't working and you and the engineer are stumped as to what to do. I'm loving how it's all turning out though.

Off to Oz today with my mates Dave, Pete and Vince to meet up with our other mates Q-Tip, Pharcyde and Wale for the Good Vibrations Festival. Should be a barrel of laughs.

pump it up

=

next single

stay tuned

just in time for Oscar season...

http://www.angelsthemovie.net/