BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY : AFRICAN AMERICAN " LLOYD BANKS " STRONGLY ASSOCIATED WITH HIS GROUP " THE LOX " BUT MANAGE A SPORADIC SOLO CAREER ON THE SIDE : GOES ON THE " HALL OF BLACK GENIUS "

                                  BLACK              SOCIAL              HISTORY                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Strongly associated with his group, the LOX (aka D-Block), Styles managed a sporadic solo career on the side. Born David Styles on November 28, 1974, in Queens and raised in Yonkers, he united with childhood friends Jada kiss and Sheek to form the LOX in 1994. The trio went on to sign with Puff Daddy's record label, Bad Boy. The LOX guested on numerous Bad Boy-affiliated songs and even recorded an album of their own, Money, Power & Respect (1998), which yielded a hit single of the same name. The LOX left Bad Boy soon afterward to join the Ruff Ryder camp, where the trio's style of hardcore rap fit better alongside other rugged rappers such as DMX. Ruff Ryder released the second LOX album, We Are the Streets (2000), followed by solo albums for each of the members. Styles' solo debut, A Gangster and a Gentleman (2002), was led by the Swizz Beatz-produced hit single "Good Times." Four years later, he returned under the billing Styles P as Ruff Ryders released his much-delayed sophomore album, Time Is Money (2006), in December. Almost exactly one year from that date, signed to Koch Records, the rapper issued his third studio full-length, Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman) (2007). In 2010 he was a featured guest on Rick Ross' massive hit "BMF (Blowin' Money Fast)" while 2011 saw him release the Master of Ceremonies album. In 2012 he issued The World's Most Hardest MC Project with producers like Araab MUZIK and Jahlil Beats behind the boards, but 2013's Float was produced exclusively by Scram Jones.