Styles P
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| Styles P
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| Background information
<tr><td>Birth name</td><td colspan="2">David Styles</td></tr><tr><td>Also known as</td><td colspan="2">Styles P, Holiday Styles, S.P. The Ghost</td></tr><tr><td>Born</td><td colspan="2">November 28, 1974 (age 32)</td></tr><tr><td>Origin</td><td colspan="2">Corona, Queens, New York City, New York/Yonkers, New York, United States</td></tr><tr><td>Genre(s)</td><td colspan="2">Hip Hop/Rap</td></tr><tr><td>Occupation(s)</td><td colspan="2">Rapping</td></tr><tr><td>Instrument(s)</td><td colspan="2">Vocals</td></tr><tr><td>Years active</td><td colspan="2">1995 - present</td></tr><tr><td style="padding-right: 1em;">Label(s)</td><td colspan="2">D-Block/Ruff Ryders/Interscope</td></tr><tr><td textalign="top" style="padding-right: 1em;">Associated |
David Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known as Styles P., is an American rapper. He was born to a Black American father and a Black South African mother. He is a member of rap group D-Block, which includes Jadakiss and Sheek Louch. He is known primarily for the hardcore lyrics and powerful messages in his music.
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[edit] Music career
Born and raised in the Corona neighborhood of Queens in New York City, Styles began rapping with Jadakiss, Kasaan and Sheek in 1994, as they all grew up in the same Yonkers, New York neighborhood. They eventually signed to Bad Boy Records, and recorded songs with Notorious B.I.G. and Puff Daddy. In 1998, The Lox released Money, Power & Respect. Soon thereafter, Styles P led the Lox on the now infamous quest to leave Bad Boy Records. When they were finally released, the Lox signed to Ruff Ryders. Shortly thereafter, a new Lox album and Jadakiss' solo album Kiss Tha Game Goodbye were released.
Styles released A Gangster and a Gentleman in 2002 as his debut solo album. The album contained the somber "The Life", featuring Pharaoh Monch, and the song dedicated to marijuana use, "Good Times (I Get High)", one of the most played songs of 2002[citation needed].
In 2003, Styles P. and Jadakiss appeared on the "Oz Soundtrack" with one of the harder edged songs "Some Niggas" about prison life. On a mixed album with several songs about the lifestyle behind bars, "Some Niggas" was one of the fiercest and most remembered songs on the street from that album[citation needed].
In 2004, Styles P released the mixtape Ghost Stories in limited distribution form (NY only) -- the mixtape spread to other cities and onto the internet in the next year. He was featured on the hit song "Locked Up (Remix)", by R&B artist Akon.
In 2005 Styles received local market airplay for his and Jadakiss' remix of Mariah Carey's mega-hit "We Belong Together", and on Miri Ben-Ari's album, The Hip-Hop Violinist; he features on the track "We Gonna Win". He released two stand-alone mixtapes in complete form: Ghost in the Shell in the spring of 2005 and Ghost in the Machine in the Fall.
Styles P has been featured on many rappers' albums including Jadakiss, DMX, and Jin.
Styles opened up about the the loss of his younger brother in the song "My brother", one of Styles most emotionaly filled creations.
[edit] Current disputes
Styles P, as a member of D-Block, is currently playing a leading role in D-Block's battle with 50 Cent. The origins and scope of the conflict (or "beef") are somewhat complex: In late 2004, Ja Rule, a rap artist with a history of beef between himself and 50 Cent released an album entitled R.U.L.E.. A particular track on the album (New York) featured D-Block artist Jadakiss.
50 Cent, claiming that he interpreted Jadakiss' presence on the R.U.L.E. album as a personal attack, responded by mildly -- albeit in a very widespread manner given the distribution of his album -- dissing Jadakiss in his 2005 album The Massacre on the track Piggy Bank.
Thus ensued a conflict between D-Block and G-Unit, into which Styles P was rapidly drawn. Each of his mixtapes mentioned at the end of this article increasingly focus on the growing tension between the two groups of rappers -- indeed, the move from subliminal references to outright "disses" seems to have been completed by the fall of 2005 as evidenced by his most recent mixtape Ghost in the Machine, which features many tracks directly referring to 50 Cent, including an aptly named "Invite to 50" where 50 Cent is challenged to a physical confrontation. (Also "Snitching 101" and "Pussy Niggas" among others)
Outside of his own mixtapes, Styles P's best-known contributions to the conflict can be found in verses on the song "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye", featured on several mixtapes as well as the 2005 Sheek Louch album After Taxes and, most recently (February 2006), on the diss track "Ms Jackson", featured on the Sheek Louch mixtape Still A Wolf.
[edit] Time is Money
The streets have been eagerly anticipating Styles P's oft' delayed second solo album, Time is Money[citation needed]. The album has had its release date modified on more than one occasion: original release dates in the spring of 2005 were missed and scheduled releases within the summer months were similarly revised. Again, in the fall of 2005, the album was "pushed back" (delayed), from an October to a November date. Time is Money will now be released on December 19th according to the Styles P revised website [[1]].
SOHH.com reported on November 3rd[[2]]After seeing his release date pushed back numerous times, D-Block enforcer Styles P is finally gearing up to release his long awaited sophomore LP, Time Is Money.
The disc, which is now scheduled to hit shelves on December 19, will be the follow-up to 2002's A Gangster and a Gentleman. The record was originally slated to drop last year and has since received numerous shaky release dates with none of them delivering the Yonkers-bred MC's new material. The album's supposed lead single, "I'm Black" received a fair amount of radio play last year, as did the single "Can You Believe It" featuring Akon, which a video was also shot for. The release boasts guest appearances by Gerald Levert, Akon, Jagged Edge, J-Hood, Mario Winans, Floetry's Marsha Ambrosius, Rashad, Talib Kweli and The Lox. The album's production will be handled by hit makers Scott Storch and Swizz Beatz among others.
In related news, Styles P has continued to hit the mixtape circuit and recently released a new mixtape in support of Time is Money entitled "Industry Xposure: Close To The Concrete" with DJs P-Cutta and DNS. The mixtape features new and unreleased music and freestyles along with classic material from The Ghost himself.
Time Is Money will hit shelves on December 19 on Interscope Records.
MTV.com reported [[3]]Meanwhile, Styles P. finally has a release date for Time Is Money. It's coming on November 14 (NOW DECEMBER 19TH) and he's about to shoot a video for the remix of "Who Want a Problem."
"I got my partners on the remix," Styles said. "So I'm gonna go with that one. I probably added a couple of more songs to the album [from the version that was supposed to come out last year] and took some songs off. I been working on the album for years. When I found a big, big song, I put it on there. I got, like, three albums done. Most likely I'm going to let some songs go [to the underground] and keep some in the stash.
"I just want to get it out, man," the Ghost added. "I'll push the album from there. I just want the opportunity. I know it's a lot of loyal and dedicated fans who have been waiting."
SP also has two mixtapes coming before the LP drops. "I'mma put one out, 'cause I need some love in the South, so I'm gonna do a DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz, then I'm gonna do one with DJ Clue."
The LOX's label, D-Block, is continuing to build up as well. J-Hood is going to finally deliver his solo LP soon and the LOX have also added a pop/R&B singer to the fold as well as a reggae artist and, of course, a string of new MCs.
"We're just working," he says. "Hood is coming soon. We just want to get our sh-- right with the radio. We just made four to six new songs, but we need that radio buzz to be extreme." ... The original lead single for Time Is Money known as "I'm Black" and featuring Floetry generated some controversy upon its mid-2005 release. Because of its supposedly "controversial" content, "I'm Black" was met with little support either internally from Interscope or externally on national radio stations[citation needed]. Much of the said controversy had to do with the song's political-social messages regarding race and oppression, with lyrics such as "I'm Black, Even though my skin's kinda light/That means my ancestors was raped by somebody white"[citation needed].
Although the earlier delays may have been attributable to the lack of mainstream reception for the album's original lead single, little is known as to why this pattern of delay has continued into the Spring of 2006, so many months after its initially promised delivery. In an interview, Styles said that he had actually finished recording the album in 2003. Attention, has, however, been focused on internal disputes within Interscope Records as they have inevitably related to the beef between G-Unit and D-Block -- Styles P was signed to a subdivision of the Interscope label during the time in which he created Time is Money.
[edit] Conflict at Interscope
In early November, several sites on the internet began reporting that the tensions within Interscope -- specifically, as they relate to the embattled group -- had reached a new level of divisiveness. It was mentioned that 'Time is Money' had been completed for "years", with the intimation being that the delays in release had been a result of inner-politics; quite possibly involving the LOX group's ongoing feud with 50 Cent, presumably aggravated by 50 Cent's increasing aggregation of influence at the label. In his song I Run New York, 50 Cent made reference to this;
- "[Jadakiss] keep runnin' his yap like I'mma take all that // One more word out his mouth I'll push Styles' shit back".
Within the same group of information, mention was made of a conciliatory offer by Interscope to release "Time is Money" in the month of November. However, it was claimed by the "camp" that the offer was refused for want of any significant pre-release publicity which normally accompanies (and helps to sell) an artist's new album.
Although not stated explicitly, it would seem that a logical conclusion of this information is that, yet again, Styles P's "Time is Money" will fail to meet a slated release date. More generally, it would seem that there is a growing likelihood that the album will fail to ever be publicly released, raising the concern of Styles' multitudes of fans within the larger Hip-Hop community.
[edit] Trivia
- The "P" in Styles P is an abbreviation of the word Paniro, a combination of the last names of actors Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, this has been stated by the rapper on the track 'Ain't None of Y'all Betta' featuring Sheek Louch and Jadakiss, where he raps, "Like Pacino and De Niro, So they call me Paniro."
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- A Gangster and a Gentleman (2002) [Certified: Gold]
- Time Is Money (12-19-2006)
[edit] Mixtapes
- Big Mike & Supa Mario - Ghost In The Shell
- Big Mike & Supa Mario - Ghost Stories: The World According To P
- DJ Domnation & Love Dinero - The Best Of Styles P., Part 2
- DJ Keyz & DJ Clue? - Styles P: Men Of Respect (Collabo Edition #17)
- DJ L - The Best Of Styles P
- DJ Lennox - Styles P: Ghost Muzik
- DJ Trigga - Styles P: The Freestyles
- Dusk 'Til Dawn Ent. - The Best Of Styles P
- Kochehe - Styles P: Do You Believe In Ghosts? Part 2
- Kochehe - Styles P: Do You Believe In Ghosts? Part 3
- Kochehe - Styles P: Do You Believe In Ghosts, Part 4
- Kochece & DJ E.NYCE - You Believe In Ghosts? (Styles P.)
- Radio & DJ Domination - Styles P: Pressure
- Supa Mario & Poobs - Ghost In The Machine
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B/Hip-Hop | |||
| 2005 | "Can You Believe It" (feat. Akon) | #40 | "Time is Money" |
| 2006 | "Who Want A Problem" | "Time is Money" |
[edit] Featured appearances
- Watch Out -- DJ Khaled (ft. Akon, Styles P, Fat Joe)
- It's Personal -- DMX (ft. Styles P, Jadakiss)
- Locked Up {Remix} -- Akon (ft. Styles P)
- In The Ghetto -- Bronz N Blak (ft. Styles P)
- I'm Not You -- The Clipse (ft. Roscoe P. Coldchain, Jadakiss, Styles P.)
- Knocking Heads Off -- Lil Jon (ft. Jadakiss, Styles P.)
- Jenny From The Block -- Jennifer Lopez (ft. Styles P. and Jadakiss)
- Can't You See -- Lemar (ft. Styles P. and Mica Paris)
- We Gonna Win -- Miri Ben-Ari (ft. Styles P)
- Shot Down -- DMX (ft. 50 Cent and Styles P)
- Blown Away -- Akon (ft.Styles P)
- One Blood (Remix) The Game (ft. Jim Jones, Snoop Dogg, Nas, T.I., new Game verse, Fat Joe, Lil Wayne, N.O.R.E., Jadakiss, Styles P., Fabolous, Juelz Santana, Rick Ross, Twista, Kurupt, Daz, WC, E-40, Bun B, Chamillionaire, Slim Thug, Young Dro, The Clipse and Ja Rule.
[edit] External links
- [4] Official Site
- [5] Styles P On Myspace
- [6] Record Label Site
- vBulletin Stylesde:Styles P.
