8 - Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The Michigan Daily - michigandailycom

8 ...Tuesday'6 Novebe9,21ThMchgnDiy-mhgaalym

Under the radar, rapper
Styles P holds his own
To stay relevant,
Yonkers-based
rapper evolves
By LEJLA BAJGORIC
Daily Arts Writer

TODAY'S
BEST DEALS,
ALL IN ONE
PLACE.
SAVING YOU MONEY AND TIME TO CRAM.

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During the walk from my
apartment to class the other
day, "Nobody Believes Me,"
from Styles P's memorable debut
album, A Gangster and a Gentle-
man, came on my shuffle. Natu-
rally, I had to spend the rest of
the day strictly listening to Styles
P, The LOX, Ruff Ryder music
and such. Though Yonkers-bred
SP has continued making music
throughout the years, achieving
both underground and main-
stream attention and acclaim,
it's safe to say that he is no lon-
ger topping the Billboard charts.
Actually, his last albumFloat sold
right under 4,000 copies in its
first week. This isn't to say that
SP's skills lost their potent con-
trol and sway. If anything, this
statistic can be used to criticize
the direction of present day hip
hop. Continuously being praised Working out.,
for maintaining his authentic,
gutter character despite the busi- do a little research on his recent
ness's shift towards a softer, more endeavors. Turns out, he released
pop-sounding, chorus-depen- a single that very day, featuring
dent trend, the Phantom has only fellow New Yorker Action Bron-
solidified his position with this son and Massachusetts based
consistency. Ea$y Money. "All I Got" is the
Sometimes,however, we forget result of three raw rappers not
about artists like Styles P when only collaborating but also deliv-
listening to their musicbecomes a ering on each of the song's verses.
conscious task - something that And did I mention Statik Sele-
isn't handed to us on XXL cov- ktah produced it? He samples
ers or on repeat on the radio. So a classic Big L track (I'll let you
when I was fatefully reminded of find out which one it is on your
the Ghost's endearing grittiness own) and effortlessly makes it
thanks to known that it is, in fact, a Statik
my iPod, First seen on song with his signature scratch-
I had to -the filter ing. "Now all these wack rappers

0

is beyond me / And the fact they
think they nice - that alarms
me / But like alchemist, I smoke
calmly / The army couldn't harm
me." You tell'em, Styles.
The juxtaposition between SP
and Action is noteworthy though.
Action is part of the "new New
York," acting as one of the big-
gest names reestablishing New
York's presence in rap right now.
Though SP has made it more than
evident that he isn't going any-
where just yet, the world is ready
for a new sound, our own genera-
tion's take on the New York life-
style that has been influential in

the genre of rap since day one.
As the chorus of "All I Got"
goes, "I ain't got it all but I'm
good with all I got." SP may not
have it all - he's missing a few
worthy platinum plaques on his
living room walls - but even he
reaffirms himself that one of
the things he is content with is
his position in an ever-changing
genre, business, game, that will
always respect the wise words
of our favorite gangster and
gentleman.
- An original version of this
article ran on the Daily Arts blog,
the Filter on Nov.11.

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