Sheek Louch

Sheek Louch linked up with his childhood companions Jadakiss and Styles to establish the LOX, after which the three signed to Bad Boy during the closing years of the 1990s. As guests the LOX turned up on a string of tracks tied to the Bad Boy roster and also put out their own album, Money, Power & Respect (1998), whose title track became a hit single. The group soon departed Bad Boy for the Ruff Ryders imprint, an environment better suited to their hardcore rap approach amid similarly tough artists like DMX. Under that banner they delivered their follow-up album, We Are the Streets (2000), after which each member launched a solo career. Sheek’s first solo effort, Walk Witt Me, appeared in 2003 on D-Block, the crew’s own imprint distributed through Universal. Modest marketing notwithstanding, the project entered the Billboard Top Ten, underscoring the act’s grassroots following. Silverback Gorilla came next in 2008, and Donnie G: Don Gorilla surfaced in 2010. Four years later he released the sequel Silverback Gorilla 2, which featured guest contributions from A$AP Ferg, Ghostface Killah, and Raheem DeVaughn.