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David Styles, born in Yonkers, turns 39 on Thursday.
Styles, a rapper, author, and an entrepreneur, was born Nov. 28, 1974. He was better known by his stage name, Styles P. He is prominently known as a member of Hip Hop group The LOX, founder of D-Block Records and is also a part of the Ruff Ryders hip-hop group, and in addition has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo MC.
Styles P, a member of The LOX and the larger D-Block Hip-Hop collective, grew up rapping alongside Jadakiss (Jason Phillips) and Sheek Louch (Shawn Jacobs). In their late teens the trio met Mary J. Blige who was so impressed with their tough street east coast lyrics, she gave them a big break by putting their demo in the hands of Sean “Diddy” Combs. Diddy immediately hired the trio to write for Bad Boy Records. With the label, The LOX quickly started collaborating on hits with Diddy, the Notorious B.I.G., Mary J. Blige, and Mariah Carey which gave them instant notoriety and status within the hip-hop and mainstream charts.
In 1997 The LOX received international acclaim when their tribute to the late Biggie Smalls, "We’ll Always Love Big Poppa", was picked as the B-side track from Diddy’s No Way Out album (3x Platinum) with the number one hit, "I'll Be Missing You". This single was the most played hit in 1997, which opened the door for The LOX first solo album debut in January 1998 entitled Money, Power & Respect (Certified Platinum).
After another LOX album, We Are the Streets (2000) and appearing on albums with Ruff Ryders, Styles released his first solo album, A Gangster and a Gentleman, in 2002. Four years later he released his second album Time is Money on Ruff Ryders which was followed by Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman) a year later. After recording many mixtapes Styles returned to the Hip-Hop scene by releasing two retail albums in 2010, The Green Ghost Project with DJ Green Lantern on Invasion Records and The Ghost Dub-Dime a retail mixtape on E1 Records (formally Koch Records). His fourth album Master of Ceremonies is a return to solo form after many years.
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