This album was released on May 22nd this year. Styles P is my favorite member of The LOX, so I was looking forward to this album when it was initially announced, especially after I heard the first single. He’s pretty much been following the same exact formula for the past few years when it comes to his solo albums, but it works, so I was still expecting this to be good. I didn’t think he’d throw any curveballs or anything. I was just expecting more of the same, and I was happy with that.

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The first song on this album that I actually enjoyed is track 3, which is called Hundred.

This one has a really dreamy, melodic beat from Dayzel the Machine. It kinda puts me in the same mood as Hell of a Night by ScHoolboy Q. That’s the main reason I like the song so much to be honest. I think the beat is awesome. Even if it was just an instrumental I’d fuck with the song. The first verse isn’t amazing or anything, but it’s Styles P doing what he always does, so I enjoyed it. You can pretty much always expect quality rapping from him, so as long as the production and hook are good it’s usually a dope song.

Me I play the beach and watch the waves hit
Long way from movin' cocaine at the days inn
Any other motel, waitin' on the dope sale
Hammer in my coat when it's cold, that was so ill

The hook is pretty straightforward, but I was satisfied with it. I think it works. The second verse was even better to me than the first one. I really don’t have any major issues with the song to be honest. I’m not head over heels in love with it—aside from the beat—but I definitely enjoyed it a lot. It’s a dope track. The next song I liked is called Truth Be Told.

This one is actually a major highlight for me. I think it’s awesome. The somber, piano-driven production from Trey on da Beatz is glorious. I think Styles P killed this shit too. The opening verse is great.

Enough about that, back to the raps
Yeah, you learn to adapt when your finances lack
Some get a job, and others get a pack
Couple niggas lose their way, and they never get it back
They ain't even dead, but they ain't livin' life
So, me I double up, yeah, you know I get it twice
Came from the dark so you know I get it bright
And I did a lotta wrong, so I'm tryna do it right

I even love the hook on this song.

Let the truth be told, let the lies be told
Know the good die young, and may the wise get old
On a hot summer day, they make your life be cold
You can either play killer or the Gandhi role

The second verse is even better than the first one too. I think it’s actually one of the best verses on the whole album.

You can get a shot to your body, a knife to your lung
Shit is gettin' dark, yearn for life in the sun
Burn weed, burn money, every bullet in the gun
Every tire on the whip just to get a lil' crumbs
With the yardie's eatin' jerk, smokin' pot, drinkin' Rum
I call my African cousin for dope in the drum
I call my Latin homie for coke in the slums
We went from white to green 'cause none of us is dunce

The song is dope as hell, and easily one of my favorites on the album. The next highlight for me is called Time, which was dropped ahead of the album’s release as the first single.

As I’ve stated before, Styles P is my favorite member of The LOX, so I was pretty happy when I saw that he dropped a new single, and it ended up being just as good as I was expecting. The soulful production from Vinny Idol is really nice, and Styles P does what he does best.

I illuminate like the moon glow
Doomsday is my day one, I ain’t DOOM though
Short nigga, but make room though
I don’t give a fuck if you came with a thousand goons, bro

There’s not really a hook on this song, but the record scratches during the break between the two verses were a nice touch. The second verse is really dope too.

I’ll take a quarter like the meter does
I’m doing everything that a leader does
I’m doing everything that a soldier does
You ain’t play the jungle, you ain’t know what a cobra was
Take a look at me, you ain’t know what a noble was
Niggas wanna kill me, give a fuck, give a shoulder shrug
Shoulder holster got the older snub
Waist got the newer nine, thought these niggas new the time

Styles P is really aging like fine wine as a rapper. A good debate would be whether him or Ghostface Killah aged better as rappers. He’s apparently working on another album called STYLES DAVID GHOST YOUR ENTHUSIASM. I don’t know if it’s actually gonna be in all caps. It’s kinda hard to tell because he’s clearly not really worried about proper grammar and punctuation when tweeting, and the YouTube description is no different. It doesn’t matter though. I don’t think there’s any word on a release date quite yet, but I’m looking forward to it. Check this song out and lemme know what you think of it.

It’s followed by Homies, which is another highlight for me. This one has a really dope, hard-hitting instrumental from Noah Styles. It’s admittedly very repetitive, but the shit is hard, so I don’t even mind. The opening verse from Styles P was pretty nice. I don’t really think the hook from Snyp Life is anything special, but his actual verse was cool. It was dope to hear that reference to Raw Buck. I think Raw Buck is a really dope rapper, so it’s really sad that he’s serving life in prison right now. Styles P actually came back for a third verse and did a pretty good job. It’s not an amazing, super memorable song or anything, but I definitely enjoyed it. All of the verses are tight, and I fuck with the beat. It’s a pretty good track. It’s followed by another good one called I’m the Shit, which is produced by DJ Wonda.

I really like the beat on this one. I feel like Nas would sound really good over this instrumental. The opening verse is pretty solid. The biggest issue I have with this song is really just the hook. I don’t know what it is about this hook, but it just feels kinda lame to me.

Told you I'm the shit, no toxic waste
Fully loaded clip, you should stop in place
This ain't the kinda place that you occupate
If you never seen these wild niggas operate

I don’t know… I think it’s the toxic waste line. I just feel like that wasn’t a good line for the hook. I don’t wanna hear him say that more than once. I definitely enjoyed the song to some extent overall, but at the same time it’s far from the best on this album. If somebody told me that they thought the song was boring as hell I probably would understand. I like it though. I think the beat’s dope, and I enjoyed both of the verses. The following track is called Backpack Rap. I really love the production from Nice Rec on this one. I also think this track has some of Styles P’s best rapping on the whole album. His flow felt more aggressive than usual here.

Had to see the path, yeah, write out my own scheme
They ain't see the vision, so I got me my own screen
I could be silent, still have my own scream
Illuminatin' ghosts, yeah, I got me my own beam
Beamin' wit' the B's on 'em, ease on 'em when I squeeze on 'em
This is verbal murder whenever the P's on it

I’m not crazy about the hook, but it serves its purpose well enough. The second verse is performed by an artist named Cassandra the Goddess, whom I’d never heard of before checking this track out. She had a pretty solid verse though. I definitely didn’t enjoy her performance as much as that of Styles P, but she was cool. The final verse from Styles P was nice too. Overall, I think it’s a very dope track. The next highlight for me is called Ghost Vibe.

This track has a really great beat from Supa Stylez. It kinda reminds me of Hundred, but it’s a lot darker than that one in my opinion. The first verse was pretty nice. I really liked that closing line about how he’ll chew any rapper despite being plant-based. My least favorite aspect of the song is easily the sung hook from Dyce Payne. I definitely wouldn’t say that he ruined the track at all, but I really could’ve done without him. The second verse was even better than the first one though.

My American dream had cocaine in it
That's like ridin' your car through hell with propane in it
I made my name, so I had to get the domain with it
I eat five star, but I'm still lo mein with it
Yeah, you playin' Temple Run, I'm on a temple run
Tryna run the guide for this game, it's a mental one
Most the time you need a solution, it's a simple one
You don't see the angel, but it's there 'cause he sent you one

The third verse was cool too. Overall, I think the song is very good. I would’ve liked it more without the feature from Dyce Payne, but it’s still an enjoyable track. I fuck with it. It’s followed by a major highlight for me called Animals. I really love the production from Vinny Idol, and Styles P killed that first verse.

Heard you said you hot, my niggas thinkin' you flammable
Heard you got shooters, but fuck it, yeah, we can handle you
You should get a suit and a box and get some candles, too
We gon' tag the set on your crib just like a vandal do
Probably playin' Juicy from Biggie, rockin' a flannel too
Panoramic roof, got a shooter wearing a Santa suit

The one aspect of the song I kinda think could’ve been better was the hook. It’s kind of a lame, boring hook. It’s fine though. The second verse was cool, and the closing verse from Sheek Louch is nice as well. The beat is pretty repetitive, so it admittedly does get a little tiresome by the time the song is over, but I still really fuck with this track. I think it’s really dope. The penultimate track is called Goatkiller. I think this is one of the hardest tracks on the project. The energetic production from Khardier da God kinda sounds like something Jahlil Beats would make—whatever happened to him anyway? The opening verse from Styles P is pretty hard, and I actually like his hook here a lot too. The second verse was even better than the first one in my opinion.

Homie took the day time; me? I took the night shift
Wanna see the paint shine, wanna see the ice drip
Wanna see the weed burn when I'm wearin' tight shit
Niggas see a lightbulb, they cuttin' off your light switch

That line about people being tighter than frog pussy caught my attention. That was pretty… uh… unique. Anyway, I think it’s a really dope track. It’s not my favorite track on the album, but it’s definitely one of the better ones in my opinion. The production is pretty repetitive, and it might get annoying for some listeners after a while, but that’s the only gripe I have. The closing track, Next Event, is another major highlight for me. I really love Dayzel’s bizarre production on this track. I think it’s one of the best beats on the project personally. The opening verse is nice, and I think the hook works really well, particularly for this track since it’s the closing song. The second verse is really great too.

You know what the gang say, we do what the strain say
Rhyme or the reefer, nigga, I do what the flame say
Sorta like the legion, nigga, I do it the Bane way
Run up in your region, nigga, take this shit the same day
Livin' like a heathen, nigga, you can see the flames spray

He doesn’t really throw any curveballs here; it’s a very straightforward track. I just think it’s really well done. The production, rapping, and hook are all very enjoyable to me. It’s dope. Now I’d like to talk about my issues with this project. Before I get into my criticisms, I wanna stress that I do like this project overall. It’s got a lot of flaws though. First of all, we gotta talk about these skits… The skits are terrible. They’re easily the worst aspect of the album. I was personally not familiar with ItsTheReal before listening to this album, and I wish I could’ve stayed unaware of their existence. Well, maybe that’s a little harsh. I’m sure they’re very nice guys. I just found them to be very annoying on this album. Apparently they’re hosts of a podcast along with Styles P himself as well as Sheek Louch. They all do movie reviews together, which actually sounds pretty interesting. I’d definitely be down to hear Sheek Louch & Styles P review movies, so I might check that shit out. It’s called 2 Jews & 2 Black Dudes Review the Movies. Anyway, the opening track of this album is a skit called Garfield. I have no idea why they decided to start the album off like this. It was completely unnecessary. That could be said about every skit on this record though. Basically, it’s just ItsTheReal calling Styles P on the phone to tell him that one of them is having sex with Garfield. I know. Hilarious. Anyway, the other skit that they did is called Jewsbar. This one was definitely more tolerable, but it still wasn’t particularly entertaining for me at all. As you can probably tell by now, ItsTheReal are very open about their Jewish background, which is cool I guess. I just don’t really think the whole “jews/juice” double entendre is very funny. I mean, it was slightly humorous when I heard that douchebag Jeff Dunham joke about it when I was like 12 years old, but I’m a grown ass man. That shit is just kinda lame to me now. Thankfully, that’s the only other track in which ItsTheReal are involved. There is one other interlude called Corona Kiss, which is performed by Jadakiss. As the title kinda indicates, Jadakiss didn’t really wanna go out to meet Styles P in order to record a full song due to the ongoing pandemic, so I guess he just went to his own home studio to record an a cappella verse. I’m a little confused about why he couldn’t just have Styles P send a beat and then email the song back to him. I’m pretty sure that’s more common than in-person collaborations these days anyway, but fuck it. We got what we got. The verse he performs is not good. I mean, I think certain lines are cool, but guess what? GUESS FUCKING WHAT? Jadakiss is ostensibly an anti-vaxxer. Yup. Of fucking course.

Why in the black neighborhood the virus hit different?
Then when they find the vaccine, it got the chip in it

What in fuck’s name is he talking about? He thinks a chip can be implanted via a fucking vaccine? NEWSFLASH: the government doesn’t need to implant a chip in your body in order to spy on you. If you have a phone, they’re already watching everything you do. I swear these fucking conspiracy theorists get dumber and dumber every day. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fun to read about shit like that. However, anyone who actually believes most of that shit has tofu where their brains should be. Anyway, when it comes to actual music, there are only two songs that I dislike on this record. The first one is track 2, which is called Noah & David. The album got off to a really rough start. Again, I hated the opening skit, so I was quite concerned when this ended up being the first track. It’s not a terrible song though. It’s just not something I’d return to. The production from Noah Styles is really bland to me, but I actually think the rapping is pretty great.

Pull up in the two door, pull up in the four door
Pull up in the truck next, I'm just tryna score more
Started with nothin', nigga, now I'm on the scoreboard
No tellin' what you find if you liftin' up the floorboards
Dancin' with the devil, what you callin' on the Lord for?
Hit you with the .44, hit you with the sawed off
Hit you with that love is love, know I keep it raw, dog
Probably gettin' blitzed at The Ritz or The Waldorf

I’m not actually sure if he said “love is love,” but if he did I think that’s a brilliant line. I’ve heard certain artists—namely Young Thug, among others—use the term “dick” as a slang term for “gun,” so if he’s using “love is love” as a metaphor for gunplay, that’s ingenious. I don’t know if that’s what he was actually going for though. It’s not something I would expect an older street rapper from New York to say, since those kinda dudes tend to be debilitatingly homophobic. Anyway, even though I enjoyed the first verse, I just think the song is kinda boring overall. Like I said, the beat is a little dry, and I think the hook is pretty boring. The second verse is even better than the first one though.

Uzi under the pillow, couple joints in the air
You cheatin' on the streets, well that's a gangster affair
You ever seen me, well that's a gangster with flare
That's a gangster aware, he knows he's a gentleman
Gremlin colored Porsche, I throw an eighth in the air
Then a half a zip, then a whole zip, then another zip
All I know is pack this luggage up, make another trip
All I know is save this money up, make another flip
All I know is pay the IRS, duck the government

Again, I don’t really think it’s a bad song overall. It’s just not entertaining enough sonically to warrant any repeat listens personally. I did really enjoy Styles P’s rapping here though. It’s an okay track. When it comes to actual songs, and we’re not discussing the skits or interludes, California is easily the weakest moment on the album. I think this song is legitimately wack. I really dislike the production from Dayzel. This beat sounds like a total mess to me. Once again, Styles P’s performance here is pretty goddamn good. It’s really the production and hook that ruin the song for me. I really hate Whispers‘ singing on that hook. It’s more so an issue with the melody itself rather than Whispers’ actual voice. I don’t think anyone could’ve made that hook sound good. It’s just super annoying to me. Even though I don’t think Styles P’s rapping on this track is bad, it’s far from his best on this album. Overall, I think it’s a really bad song. It’s not the worst thing I’ve ever heard from Styles P, but it’s definitely the bleakest moment on this album, outside of the skits.

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_{This is a cool album. I enjoyed it overall. As I mentioned before, I was initially quite worried because this thing gets off to a false start, but he managed to find his footing once he got warmed up. If you’ve been listening to Styles P for the past few years you pretty much know what to expect. He’s not throwing any curveballs, unless you count those terrible skits. This is far from his best work, but I still think it’s good, and worth checking out if you’re a fan. It’s definitely not a good starting point for new listeners, but fans should be satisfied unless they’re expecting something really new or original. If you’re comfortable with what he’s been giving us over the past few years and just want more of that, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. I think it’s a good album, although I must admit that it kinda sounds more like a compilation of random tracks than a cohesive album, but that’s not a super huge issue for me. I fuck with this one.}

Favorite Song: Truth Be told
Least Favorite Song: California

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