Styles P
Float
Release Date: Apr 16, 2013
Genre(s): Electronic, Rap, Club/Dance, East Coast Rap, Hardcore Rap
Record label: High Times Records
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Album Review: Float by Styles P
Very Good, Based on 3 Critics
Based on rating 7/10
On his sixth official studio effort, LOX member and New York rapper Styles P collaborates exclusively with producer and fellow East Coaster Scram Jones, and you better believe that sticky icky is a heavy influence because Float lands on the High Times Records imprint. Dank nuggets obviously influence the minimal and twitchy "I Need Weed" but it's not until the great "Red Eye" that the roadside weed becomes a national highway, thanks to Scram's attractive, "Planet Rock"-inspired beats and the winning D-Block reunion of Styles and Jadakiss. Excellent guest shots also come from Raekwon, who sounds like he's hanging with Styles at the Lyricist Lounge during the rap battle-worthy "Reckless" plus Scram himself who vocally contributes to the closing kiss-off "Screw Y'All," which also features pillowy puffs of synthesizer that emerge, float, and then disappear.
Based on rating 3.5/5
Since his 2002 solo debut, A Gangster And A Gentleman, in addition to his time with The Lox and D-Block, Styles P has been an undeniable model of consistency, superiority and respect among New York’s lyrical elite. Among today’s so-called “punch line” rappers, P’s influence is well documented. Now, at five solo albums deep, Styles P continues his run of quality releases with Float, a 12-song offering where he doesn’t stray too far from his blueprint of no-nonsense NYC Hip Hop, but which also sees the Yonkers emcee loosening his belt just a tad.
Opinion: Fairly Good
At 38 years old, Styles P is one of the few New York millennium-era gangster rappers who have survived the times to remain relevant in 2013. Styles P was never the leading man in his heyday, and he’s not one now, but the man known as Paniro has been able to remain an East Coast mainstay by adapting effectively to the internet era in a way his peers couldn’t, and by refusing to settle for anything less than rock-hard bars and unmitigated gangster rap. On “Bodies in the Basement,” a cut off his newest album Float he raps, “To calm down, I need a bunch of weed/ Or I’ll crack ya head like a pumpkin seed.
'Float'
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