Styles P or simply Styles is a stage name of David Styles who came to prominence as an American rapper and entrepreneur who was also a respectable member of a hip hop collective named “The Lax”.
He was also called Styles Panira and The Ghost amongst other names.
He had a lot of nicknames and people used to call him a bunch of different things.
Early years
Styles P was born on November 28th, 1974 as David Styles in New York City in the United States. He used to spend a lot of his time on the streets, playing with his friends and being spontaneous.Many people talk about him in a good way and say that he way always very energetic.
He was born in a neighborhood named Carona, situated in Queens, which is one of the five large boroughs in New York City. This means that he came from a pretty good situation and he was actually having a better chance of getting a good job than some other people!
His father originated from New York, from a city borough of Brooklyn (Bedford – Stuyvesant to be exact) and his mother originated from South Africa.
His parents got divorced when he was a little kid and the consequence of it was that he and his brother Gary started living only with their mother. They all relocated to Yonkers in Westchester County on a new address.
He and his younger brother Gary are very close and they were firmly connected as kids. The two of them started to get even more and more connected through time and this meant that they traveled together and got inquiries together.
When they came to Yonkers David met two boys who became his best friends and with whom he is still in good term: Jason (today is known as Jadakiss) and Sean (known as Sheek Louch).
The two of them can be seen on many different events and they always spend a bunch of time together.
Career development
All of these boys were very passionate about hip-hop so they spent a lot of time listening to music, rapping and making rhymes. This was also a very interesting thing for him and they wanted to pursue a career in music, but they didnt know if it was going to be a good thing or not.
When David was 20 years old the three of them created a hip hop group named The Lox (The L.O.X.), after years of rapping as a trio. It was a really good thing because they felt great while working together and that was the most important thing.
Their careers went upwards when they met Mary J. Blige who liked their work and lyrics and decided to give their demo tape to a respectable producer Puff Daddy (Sean Combs).
He also liked what he heard so he decided to offer them to sign to his label titled Bad Boy Records.
Soon after signing the contract they started collaborating with known stars such as Notorious B.I.G. and Mariah Carey so they soon became known names in the world of mainstream hip-hop.
All through 1996 and 1997 The Lox has written many hits for Diddy, Mase, Mariah Carey, Mary J. Blige, and others.
In 1997 they received special attention after recording “We’ll Always Love Big Poppa” in memories of Buggie Smalls on Diddy’s album named “No Way Out”.
It gave them recognition and notoriety so they finally decided to release their first album one year later, in 1998.
It was titled “Money, Power & Respect” and it was a big success, getting to No.3 on the US Billboard 200 Chart and to No.1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts. The album reached platinum sales.
Although they had no issues with their current label Bad Boy Records they thought the label was too mainstream and “shiny” and they wanted to make grimier rap lyrics.
That is why they signed to Ruff Ryder Records. The Lox released their second album “We Are the Streets” in 2000, and it was produced by Swizz Beatz and released by their new record label.
In 2002, Styles P released his first album titled “A Gangster and a Gentleman”. Before him, Jadakiss released his solo album “Kiss Tha Game Goodbye” in 2001.
His hit single from the album was named “Good Times” and came to No. 22 on Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In 2006, Styles released his second album named “Time is Money” through Ryders Ent. and Interscope Records. It was featured by Lil Jon, Hi-Tem, Scott Storch and many others.
His next album was named “Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman) which went up to No.5 on the Billboard 200 chart. Akon was also featured on this album. During all this time Styles released a lot of mixtapes.
In 2010 he released two albums named “The Green Ghost Project” and “The Ghost Dub-Dime”. After this release, he released a new album every following year. They were “Master of Ceremonies” from 2011, “The World’s Most Hardest MC Project” in 2013, “Float” in 2013 and “Phantom and the Ghost” from 2014.
In 2016, the LOX finally released their new album which was waited for a long period of 15 years. It was named “Filthy America… It’s Beautiful”.
In 2010 Styles published his first novel named “Invincible” and it was published by Random House. In 2011 he opened his first juice bar named “Juices for Life”.
He co-founded a record label named D-Block Records and was a CEO of it. The label signed several artists such as 354 Entertainment.
In 2009 he had his first appearance in a music drama titled “Just Another Day”. He was also a guest un All That music show in 1998.
Signed the underground Rappers Team Arliss (Animal, St Dot and Trav) on to his record label D-Block.
Styles P signed “354 Entertainment”, a new popular underground rapper to his label.
Personal life
As for his personal life, we know that Styles is a vegan and he made a business out of it.
He opened several juice bars in different parts of New York and Jadakiss is his business partner in this joint venture.
Styles is married to Adjka. They got married in 1995 and have two kids together. Tai was Adjka’s daughter from her earlier relationship and Noah was their child who was born in 1999.
Styles suffered several terrible tragedies in life. His stepdaughter committed suicide in 2015 which was a big shock for him and Adjka.
Almost 15 years earlier, in 2001, his younger brother Gary died in a car accident and it broke David’s spirit. He loved his brother dearly so he made several songs dedicated to him.
“My brother” is a single from his first album which was dedicated to him in which he cries out for his brother and speaks about how a part of him died with his brother.
After getting involved in a conflict at one nightclub in New York, he stabbed a man in the butt and afterward surrendered to the police. He was triggered into doing it due to the crowd he hanged out with.
He received a sentence on a period of eight months. He was released from the prison in the summer of 2003, and although it was not a good experience jail helped him in one way.
He didn’t finish his high school education while he was a student at Gorsin High School, he finished it while he was in prison for 8 months.
Before marrying Adjka he was dating Karren Steffans, a model.
He is a big fan of cycling and he does it often. He is vegan and eats healthy, including a lot of juice drinking.
Quick summary
Full name: David Styles
Date of birth: November 28, 1974
Birthplace: New York, United States
Age: 45
Profession: rapper, independent record producer, songwriter
Height: 168 cm
Weight: 68 kgs
Net Worth: $3 million