finetune artist: The Lox

Comprising childhood friends Sheek Louch (b. Sean Jacobs, 8 November 1975, Yonkers, Westchester County, New York, USA), Jadakiss (b. Jason Phillips, 27 May 1975, Yonkers, New York, USA) and Styles (b. David Styles, 28 November 1974, Corona, Queens, New York City, New York, USA), the LOX (Living Off Experience) grew up together in the Yonkers district of New York, USA. Rapping from an early age, they adopted the LOX name in their late teens. The trio came to the attention of swingbeat star Mary J. Blige, who passed a demo tape onto Bad Boy Records boss Sean "Puffy" Combs. Combs hired the trio as staff writers, leading to several high profile writing and performing credits with artists such as Mariah Carey ("Honey"), Mary J. Blige ("Can't Get You Off My Mind"), the Notorious B.I.G. ("Last Day') and Puff Daddy (Combs" recording moniker). The LOX's big breakthrough came when their Notorious B.I.G. tribute song, "We'll Always Love Big Poppa", was used as the b-side to Puff Daddy's international hit single "I'll Be Missing You". Their stylish and highly melodic debut album entered the Billboard album chart at number 3 in January 1998. They also enjoyed two US Top 30 singles with "If You Think I'm Jiggy' and the album's title track. The latter, which featured the vocal talents of Lil' Kim and DMX, peaked at number 17 in May. They subsequently teamed up with the Ruff Ryders crew on April 1999's chart-topping Ryde Or Die Vol. 1 compilation, renewing an association that dated back to the early 90s. After a bitter dispute with Bad Boy the trio was able to free themselves from Combs" label and return to the Ruff Ryders set-up. Their debut album for the Ruff Ryders label, We Are The Streets, debuted at US number 5 in February 2000. The individual members subsequently branched out into solo work, with Jadakiss releasing Kiss Tha Game Goodbye in 2001 and Styles issuing A Gangster And A Gentleman the following year.

Listen to The Lox at Finetune.

(2005) Money, Power & Respect
(1998) Money, Power, and Respect

Money, Power & Respect
We'll Always Love Big Poppa
If You Think I'm Jiggy
All for the Love
Bitches From Eastwick