Album: Styles P – Time Is Money

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If you want to know what separates Styles from other tough talking New York natives then look no further than Testify, which is further driven home by guest Talib Kweli. Here Styles shows a consciousness and depth that others fail to reach, without losing an ounce of his street credibility, on top of a familiar orchestration by Hi-Tek. Similar themes are more deeply explored on the slow grinding soul concoction Fire & Pain, as Styles further separates himself from his peers. It is also hard to deny the straight up dope level of How We Live, interestingly produced by G-Unit associate Havoc (of Mobb Deep). Burn One Down similarly provides more raw materials to further help the cause of Styles as being one of the best lyricists right now.

Time Is Money is for the most part a solid release with only a couple of tracks that slightly hold back the album’s consistency. The main example of this is the half-baked club anthem Can You Believe It. Do we really need another Akon guest appearance or token Lil’ Jon beat?! The only other track that seems out of place is Favourite Drug, especially when it is over the same sample made famous by T.I. with Why You Wanna. To be fair though, this track was recorded before T.I.’s and was held back by release date issues and record label politics. However, mindful of such criticisms Styles notes himself at the opening of the track that he usually doesn’t make girly songs.

At the end of the day, Time Is Money is an entertaining and refreshing modern slice of New York Hip Hop well worth a few listens. Highly recommended!

Available Through Koch Records