Styles P Says Corporate Money Has Pulled Hip-Hop From Its Roots

Styles P broke down Hip-Hop’s identity crisis during an interview with TmrO Network, arguing that the genre has strayed from its foundational purpose. The LOX member traced Hip-Hop’s origins as a voice for the voiceless, a creative outlet born from poverty for people disconnected from their history, language and ancestral heritage.

He said many people no longer understood what Hip-Hop meant, pointing to the influence of media, corporations and big money.

“It’s taken away from Hip-Hop as a genre invented for people who don’t know their history, for people who didn’t know their language, for people who didn’t know their ancestors’ actual names. This is something that’s created out of poverty and out of a need to do something different. This is a generation that’s created something different to have and to hold on and to have something of your own,” Styles P said.

The Yonkers native credited early influences from Wolfman Jack’s radio presence to Lee’s style in “Beat Street” with shaping his understanding of Hip-Hop. He recalled picturing Wolfman Jack before ever seeing him. Watching Lee, meanwhile, made him want to be part of the world the film showed, from the clothes to being young and out in the mix.

He also described “The Message” as his first experience of a “verbal picture.” Its words reflected poverty and places he had seen while traveling through New York with his mother, who cleaned homes and apartment buildings. Hearing those familiar surroundings put into words helped draw him toward rap’s storytelling.

Styles P highlighted how corporate involvement had pulled attention away from Hip-Hop’s roots. For his generation, he explained, the culture gave people a voice and something of their own to build around.

“It’s like the matrix was broke,” he said. “It was like it’s something they created and it was a voice for us. … So I think a lot of us tend to forget that and forget the importance of this [ __ ].”

The LOX co-founder reflected on his journey from sneaking into basement ciphers in Yonkers to becoming a Hip-Hop veteran. He said he began rhyming around 10 or 11. He heard people on his block banging on car hoods and rhyming and already knew he loved words. He credited an older rapper, Dusty Mike from Highland, with showing him how sharp wordplay could command a room. He admired how Dusty Mike paired an aggressive style with an intelligent approach to rhymes. Around 11 or 12, he recalled getting the mic at a basement party and realizing the crowd liked what he was doing.

His future group members also helped raise his standards. Styles P said he met fellow LOX members Jadakiss and Sheek Louch in junior high before they attended high school together. Their approach pushed him beyond trading rhymes: they were already writing songs and hooks and recording on reel-to-reel equipment. Seeing that work up close made him take his own craft more seriously.