Styles P is regarded as one of hip-hop’s most versatile emcees. Beginning his career as part of the epic Yonkers supergroup The LOX, the rapper (real name David Styles) also cemented himself as an exceptional solo emcee outside the group.
Comprised of Styles P, Sheek Louch and Jadakiss, The Lox began their musical journey in their hometown of Yonkers, a suburb of New York City and aimed to follow in the footsteps of DMX, an emcee from their area who had taken over hip-hop.
Upon their arrival, The Lox became a staple of early 2000s hip-hop and as solo artists, most notably Jadakiss, began to rise up the ranks of rap, each becoming stars in their own right. Styles P (real name David Styles) was a very prominent figure in the culture, with his 2002 debut album, A Gangster and a Gentleman, managing to reach number six on the Billboard 200.
Since 2002, Styles has released seven full-length studio albums, the last of which was his 2018 project, G-Host. However, over the years, akin to figures such as Pete Rock and KRS-One, the lyricist has seen a deterioration of New York rap music and, at present, is not impressed with the rhymers the city is producing.
Since 2014, the popularity of drill music has skyrocketed in the UK and the US with the late Pop Smoke even using the unique beats of British producers AXL Beats and 808 Melo to craft his tracks. However, Styles is not happy with this direction for New York.
In a recent interview with the Bagfuel podcast, was asked if The Lox would record a drill album. Following this, Styles gave his unfiltered opinion on the subgenre, stating, “Drill drives me f*cking crazy. Some of them sh*ts I like, but some of that drives me the f*ck crazy! It gotta be beats I love! It wouldn’t be too [violent]…it would probably show the kids how to balance it out.”
He continued, “Drill ain’t nothing but the new word for gangsta rap. But this sh*t ain’t for everybody. There’s consequences and repercussions that come with it. What they do now, I feel, is different to what we did is they don’t really f*cking think enough! A lot of these kids are saying sh*t that they are not even into!”
In his interview, Styles explained how the new generation of drill rappers, especially in New York, are setting themselves up to fail by incriminating themselves before they have even achieved a moderate amount of fame. Furthermore, he believes that a lot of drill MCs in the game aren’t being authentic to themselves with their music.
You can hear Styles P explain why he doesn’t like drill in the video below.
