Tag: Styles P

Wreckage Manner – Self-Titled review

Wreckage Manner is a newly formed superduo from Queens, New York consisting of Styles P & Havoc. The latter most notable for formerly being 1/2 of the seminal Mobb Deep alongside the late Prodigy & the other coming up as 1/3 of The LOX with his childhood friends Jadakiss & Sheek Louch. Now we’ve heard these guys together a few times before on songs like on “Hard Life” off Filthy America…It’s Beautiful or the Billy Danze loosie “Chasin’ Money”, but was very much looking forward to their full-length debut over here given the impact both of them have on the culture.

“Fuck Around” is an amazingly eerie opener about how the duo don’t play no games whereas “Move How We Wanna” incorporates some heavenly background vocals saying they follow their own blueprint. The strings that “Fiend For” brings to the table are really cool talking about money, power & respect just before “Pay Me in Cash” does a good job of angrily demanding that paper over a dusty boom bap instrumental.

Meanwhile on “21 Gun Salute”, we have Wreckage Manner teaching the youth that keeping it real will get you further in life with the production enhancing a serious tone to it leading into “YO 2 QB” weaves in some more strings serving as a fresh homage to their neck of the woods. “Havoc & the Ghost” is a nice change of pace sonically talking about how they just wanna gross while the song “Good as Gold” calmly declares family over everything.

The penultimate track “Hymn to Him” has a dope lil guitar wailing in the background sending a warning to anyone who dares to cross them & finally, “Nightmares 2 Dreams” is a great sendoff to the album by grimly calling out cats who don’t understand them saying those people don’t even understand themselves.

Now if these guys are gonna make any more albums with each other down the road, then sign me the fuck up because this is a great debut. Havoc’s production remains unmatched & lyrically, he & Styles P sound really good with one another.

Score: 4/5

The LOX – “L.O.X. (Living Off Xperience)” review

The LOX are a renown hip hop trio from Yonkers, New York consisting of Jadakiss, Styles P & Sheek Louch. They made their full-length debut at the beginning of 1998 by dropping Money, Power & Respect under Bad Boy Entertainment & would outdo themselves in 2000 with the Ruff Ryders-backed We Are the Streets. Last we heard from the 3 was in 2016 when they dropped their comeback effort Filthy America… It’s Beautiful under their own label D-Block Records with distribution from Roc Nation Records but as summer draws to a close, The LOX are getting back together for their 4th full-length album.

Things start off with “Gave It to ‘Em”, where the trio talk about hooking cats up over an galactic-sounding instrumental fromaraabMUZIK. The next song “Move” brags back & forth with one another bragging over a dreary trap beat from Scott Storch while the track “‘Bout Shit” with DMX sees the 4 talking about going all out over a Scram Jones beat with an alluring sample. The song “Testify” prays for their friends over a climactic instrumental while the track “Miss You” is of course a heartbreak anthem with a lush beat.

The song “Story” might be my favorite on the entire album as The LOX of course get into their storytelling bag over a somewhat funky Nottz beat while the track “Do to Me” gets back on the romance tip over a moody Scott Storch beat. The song “Come Back” talk about their return to the rap game over a somber instrumental from Statik Selektah while the track “Think of The LOX” with Westside Gunn & Benny the Butcher sees the 5 talking about being the best over an unsettling boom bap beat from Large Professor.

The song “My America” talks about how the trio are tired of the racism in our country over a boom bap beat with some melancholic background vocals while the track “Net Worth” gets materialistic over a bland instrumental. The tracks “Dirty Dirty” & “Commitment” are the last ones on the album that’re on the lovey dovey side of things, but they’re easily the most excruciating ones in the tracklist. The album finishes off with “Loyalty & Love”, where The LOX talk about brotherhood over a luxurious boom bap beat.

If you ask me, this is WAY better than Jadakiss’ latest album Ignatius. Could’ve done without the redundant & corny radio cuts, but you can definitely hear how much The LOX have grown together as a group throughout the past 26 years of their career. Especially on the more grimier joints on here.

Score: 3.5/5