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Styles was always the unreconstructed thug of the Lox, the one prone to fantasies of extreme violence and least likely to serenade the ladies, no matter how much Puffy insisted. One listen to the title track from his solo debut might explain things: "By
the time I was nine, I was out of my mind/Step-pops didn't like me, beat me out of my mind." Styles may be plain-speaking, but he's certainly not simple. Many of his songs ("Black Magic," "We Thugs") celebrate life's underdogs, and the rest reflect a deep nihilism. On "Good Times," over a nasal, wistful Freda Payne sample, he bemoans his fate: "I get as high as I could/'Cause if you see things like I see things/I'm-a die in the hood." While the rest of mainstream hip-hop concerns itself with how best to live, a sad and unapologetic Styles stares mortality right in the face. "Fuck a chain," he deadpans, "I'm already hanging."
JON CARAMANICA
(RS 902 - August 8, 2002)
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Track List
-
Good Times (track not available in Rhapsody)
- Yall Know We In Here - (featuring Swizz Beatz/P.K.)
- A Gangster And A Gentleman
- Black Magic - (featuring Angie Stone)
-
Daddy Get That Cash - (featuring Lil' Mo) (track not available in Rhapsody)
- Lick Shots - (featuring Jadakiss/Sheek/J-Hood)
- And I Came To - (featuring Eve/Sheek)
- Get Paid
- I'm A Ruffryder - (featuring Jadakiss)
- Soul Clap
- We Thugs (My N*****) - (featuring Jadakiss/Sheek)
- Styles - (featuring Jadakiss)
-
Listen (track not available in Rhapsody)
- Y'all Don't Wanna F*** - (featuring M.O.P.)
- Nobody Believes Me - (featuring Sheek/Cross/J-Hood)
-
My Brother (track not available in Rhapsody)
- Life, The - (bonus track)
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©Copyright 2009 Rolling Stone; Jann S. Wenner, editor and publisher
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.
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