Styles P

Strongly tied to the LOX (also known as D-Block), Styles P has built a parallel solo path that has thrived independently. David Styles entered the world on November 28, 1974, in Queens before growing up in Yonkers, where he linked with childhood companions Jadakiss and Sheek to launch the LOX in 1994. The three secured a deal with Puff Daddy’s Bad Boy imprint and appeared on multiple tracks connected to that roster before issuing their own project, Money, Power & Respect (1998), which spawned a chart-topping single sharing the album’s title. They soon departed Bad Boy for Ruff Ryders, whose roster of tougher acts like DMX better matched the group’s hardcore approach, resulting in We Are the Streets (2000) and subsequent solo releases for each member.

Styles launched his own career with A Gangster and a Gentleman (2002), fronted by the Swizz Beatz-crafted single “Good Times.” Four years afterward, billed as Styles P, he delivered the long-postponed follow-up Time Is Money (2006) through Ruff Ryders in December. Almost exactly twelve months later, now on Koch Records, he unveiled his third studio effort, Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman) (2007). He surfaced as a guest on Rick Ross’ blockbuster “BMF (Blowin’ Money Fast)” in 2010, then issued Master of Ceremonies in 2011. The 2012 release The World’s Most Hardest MC Project featured production from AraabMUZIK and Jahlil Beats, whereas 2013’s Float arrived with Scram Jones handling every beat. An unintended leak prompted the early October 2015 rollout of the twenty-track A Wise Guy and a Wise Guy.

Styles P and the LOX ended a sixteen-year gap with Filthy America...It’s Beautiful in 2016; the set landed inside the Billboard 200’s upper half and supported a subsequent tour. The following year he teamed with Talib Kweli for the joint album The Seven. His ninth studio LP, G-Host (2018), included appearances by Nino Man, Dyce Payne, Whispers, and Oswin Benjamin. Later that same year he paired with Harlem’s Dave East for Beloved, then closed 2018 with the third project of the calendar, Dime Bag. He opened 2019 by dropping S.P. the GOAT: Ghost of All Time and added another mixtape, Presence, before the year concluded.