Styles P has a long history of being regarded as one of Hip Hop’s best lyricists, but he now feels that rap is no longer a sport that fosters rivalry.
The LOX rapper discussed the lack of friendly sparring in the rap industry in an interview with Jalen Rose on his podcast Renaissance Man With Jalen Rose on Thursday, July 13. He used basketball scoring analogies to make his argument.
The difference between hip hop then and hip hop now, according to Styles P, is that they aren’t as competitive with one another. “In my opinion, it should always be business when you get on a track with someone. You should try to air things out when you first meet someone in the studio. You should be attempting to drop a triple-double, not dissing them.
“If they go for a double-double, you want to make sure you go for a triple-double, and I think that sense of competitiveness has somewhat faded away,” he continued.
Styles P has recently been outspoken on a lot of cultural issues. HipHopDX questioned Ghost about the first rap song he was able to memorize in its whole during the 2023 BET Awards weekend in June.
Styles P decided to call the 1982 call to action tune by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five “The Message.” He said, “That was the first, most inspirational song for me.” I believe that everyone was focused on remembering Rakim, Kool G Rap, [Big Daddy] Kane, and KRS [One] bar for bar, particularly during my age, when it came to albums.
