Today, Nov. 28, is the 44th birthday of New York rapper Styles P!

Born David Styles in Yonkers, N.Y., Styles P worked his way up the ranks of New York rap in the early 90s. Styles, along with classmates Jason "Jadakiss" Phillips and Sean "Sheek Louch" Jacobs performed in high school as the rap trio the Bomb Squad. After high school, the guys continued to gain underground notoriety and eventually changed their stage name to the Warlocks. The guys were soon discovered by Mary J. Blige, who passed their demo tape to Sean Diddy Combs. Diddy signed the trio, changed their name to The LOX and catapulted Styles, Sheek and Jada into hip-hop stardom.

The LOX dropped their debut album Money, Power & Respect on Bad Boy Records in 1998, which housed the hit single of the same name. By 2002, after working with the LOX on songs for the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Mariah Carey, The LOX went on hiatus and Styles P pursued solo success. Styles dropped his solo debut, A Gangster and a Gentleman, to a ton of critical acclaim, landing a peak spot at No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Styles P, Sheek Louch and Jadakiss got back together in 2013 by surprising fans with new music. The LOX dropped the EP The Trinity and to the joy of their fanbase, toured the new music the next year, subsequently dropping another EP, The Trinity: 2nd Sermon. In 2016, when Diddy announced the official Bad Boy Reunion Tour, The LOX hit the road with the label, and put out a full-length album for the first time in 16 years titled, Filthy America... It's Beautiful.

To date, Ghost has ten solo albums to his name, two of which, G-Host and Dime Bag, dropped in 2018. For S.P., this year has been a banner year to say the least. Aside from the aforementioned album releases, Styles dropped two other projects, Nickel Bag, a 5-track EP that served as the precursor for the Dime Bag album, and Beloved, an immensely well-received album alongside Dave East, which XXL named among the best Hip-Hop collab projects of the year.

Happy Birthday, Styles P!

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