Ruff Ryders truly have something on their hands here

When you talk about Ruff Ryders, people will think about DMX. People will think of Eve. People will think of Jadakiss. But Ruff Ryders has a forgotten man. Quite a forgotten man. Styles drops his first solo album with A gangster and a gentleman. It is hard to not compare this album and Jadakiss' Kiss tha game goodbye since they're part of the same group: The LOX. Overall, I would go as far as saying that even though Jada's the fame guy, Styles does more with less than Kiss did.
Unlike Jadakiss, Styles doesn't have to try to be a multi-dimensional, all-around performer because he just is. So you'll get the usual violence like the hard hitting Y'all don't wanna f***. But even when he raps what people are all used to hearing, like on that track, he manages to escape getting overshadowed by the "Ol G's" M.O.P. saying things like "We can beef, I don't give a f***/cuz if you kill me, I got n*ggas that'll bend up your son/it's the world's most gutterous, Paneiro the ghost they though of me when they invented the gun ". Another great track is I'm a Ruff Ryder, which gave Styles another track to screw up. Then again, he doesn't and he shoots ingenious lyrics with Jadakiss handling the powerful chorus.
However, don't think Styles is just saying he's shooting people for 24 songs. On Listen, he gives a much more human look at reality, saying "I got a few things I wanna ask the lord/why my people go to be so poor/why is it so rough when you're young and black/they say you go to jail and get strung on crack/why did that girl have that baby when she was 12 years old/ask the state why that cell got to be so cold ". And he also shows how he truly feels on My life, a bonus track featuring Pharaohe Monch. This is when he distinguishes himself from Jadakiss and as a superior writer. "F*ck a check, I no longer have to wait for em/I made a couple of ends/lost a couple of friends/I light a blunt cause never will the struggle end ". Styles brings a great effort and shows that he is an awesome talent.
Unfortunately, an album can't be perfect. On the self- titled track, Styles gets caught into reminding the world he's the man. The song also suffers from very poor Swizz Beatz production. Also, I was saying that raised himself above Jadakiss in terms of talent. On Lick shots, however, Jada busts his best rhymes in a very long while and Styles can't quite match his performance. On the positive side, put great efforts by all four Lick shots' performers (Styles, J-Hood, Sheek and Jadakiss) and you have yourself a great song.
I was impressed the first time I heard Styles on Eve's That's what it is. I kept interest in him since then and I can say that since he dropped his record, Styles has established himself as one of the top five emcees in the game. Yes, you read right. He is certainly the best Ruff Ryders has to offer and I'm sure P.Diddy would sure love to still have on Bad Boy. And if he doesn't, he should. Not many people show that much intelligence and that many faces to their game. Is he a revelation ? No, because he's been there for a while. But now, his efforts scream for attention and I sincerely hope he gets it because he deserves it. Out of 100, I'd give 93 and a round of applause as congratulations.