By Craig Frazier
Styles P is a third of the trio that brought you Money, Power and Respect in 1998. 15 years and five solo albums later, the gangster and the gentleman is back with his latest release Float. The 12-track album is a montage of songs that range from weed anthems to joints that vividly depict street life with flamboyant vernacular and poetic lyrics.
The album’s producer Scram Jones has an impressive resume that includes Scarface, Dipset, Methodman and the Notorious B.I.G. His dark, menacing beats remind you of a musical score straight out of an action crime flick and set the perfect backdrop for Styles’ rhymes, metaphors and hood narratives. The cut Shoot You Down is one of these cuts off the album. He raps,
Masked like Bane, Dark Knight like Wayne-Gangstas with night skills is missing from the game/Stand up G, I strive for my son –But the cold ass streets forced me to cradle with my guns/Ones is the only thing that matters I try to keep it real, they just here about swagger, King of New York shit, meet me at the Plaza/You can talk shit and get plucked with the dagger.
Styles P remains one of the few New York gangster storytellers who is relevant to the contemporary market. He continues to adapt effectively by utilizing this high tech era as a platform for his unmitigated gangster rap.
Crime rhyme rappers Jadakiss, N.O.R.E. and Raekwon also drop verses on the project. The song Manson Murder features N.O.R.E and is an eerie track complete with Charles Manson voiceovers. Check for cuts Bodies in the Basement, and Red Eye, a track that features P, Jadakiss and a hook that says it all: Money, power, kush, sour/ Haze, airy, pills, powder /Pull it out, cock back, let the lead fly/Then a nigga gone, on the red eye.
Raekwon and Scram Jones go back like Nextels and chirps. The Wu disciple should take a bow after taking center stage and masterfully flowing over the cuts and scratches on Reckless.
Sheek Louch blesses the album’s first single, Hater Love. The duo explores the complex relationships among rivals, competitors and those that just won’t respect their gangster:
Small talk is irrelevant, down to kill an elephant/Niggas look fly and their bitches look elegant/ Let the birds fly like a pelican, from NY out to Maryland/ Be more careful them little niggas hear ya, tattoo tears overhead if you dare to/yeah, wax out the trippy,Racks off the other shit, max with the hippies/Mack out the window if niggas act iffy, M’s off the piffy/Shit’s getting sticky like Jiffy/Hood gon’ cry if they hit me.
Float is good. Most of his cuts are musically Timb-tapping, neck- jerking flavorful. Styles has always been able to paint colorful pictures with his songs a la Guns and Roses, Rocks Out Here, and freestyles like BMF and B. This trend continues on Float. The more you listen, the more it grows on you. Scram Jones joins producers like Swizz Beats, Mr Hazzy, Drawzilla and Araab Muzik on the list of producers who successfully manage to accentuate Style P’s favor.
Out of 5
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