“That’s what everyone’s looking for from us anyway.” “We’re taking it to the streets and giving off the original hip-hop sound that everybody’s used to hearing us on,” Jacobs says. The LOX says it features the type of up-tempo sound and intensity that made it popular in the first place, following the somewhat compromised “Money, Power & Respect,” which was produced by Bad Boy’s commercially minded team. They’re able to do what they want 100%.”ĭean says she expects their album to sell 3 million copies. “They’re comfortable now, so you’re going to get the best out of them. “We’ve always believed in artistically,” says Chivon Dean, CEO of Ruff Ryders Records. The almost universally respected DJ Premier and the innovative Timbaland also produced songs on the new album. And their new album features production work from the immensely popular Swizz Beatz, whose beats back some of the most popular-and gritty-songs of DMX, Eve and Jay-Z. Jay-Z, whose braggadocio raps feature the same type of clever lyrics that the LOX favors, has enjoyed tremendous success with his last two albums. That’s exactly what the group hopes to provide with “We Are the Streets,” and the time seems ripe for a big commercial breakthrough by a group like the LOX. They want to see their next-door neighbor, or somebody just like them, rock.”
“They want a brother just like them to represent. “People are tired of the glittery stuff,” Jacobs says. Now with the future of the label clouded after some disappointing releases and-more seriously-Combs’ indictment on weapons charges in the wake of a December shooting in a New York nightclub, the LOX, which negotiated its release from Bad Boy, appears to have jumped ship at the right time. While Puffy and company boast of their materialistic spoils to the sound of radio-friendly production, the LOX appeals to hard-core fans who are more impressed with grime than shine. The group was the antithesis of what Combs-recording as Puff Daddy-and other Bad Boy acts such as Ma$e and 112 represent. Maybe it wasn’t a good fit to begin with. Not wishing to get into a debate with the rap act, a representative of Bad Boy Records, when asked about the Lox’s comments, merely said, “Bad Boy Records extends its wishes of success to the Lox on their forthcoming album.” Despite the group’s rock-solid reputation and the success of its anthemic title track (which featured Lil’ Kim and DMX, who was virtually unknown at the time), LOX members say they became an afterthought at Bad Boy, getting little attention or promotion from the company. The LOX’s first album, “Money, Power & Respect,” was released in January 1998 and has sold more than 693,000 copies. With the guidance of Ruff Ryders’ management wing, the LOX was signed in 1996 to Bad Boy, which at the time was New York’s hottest hip-hop label. Laced with biting humor and the type of wordplay that can require playing more than once to fully grasp the meaning, the LOX produced lyrics that became the talk of the underground. The LOX-Shawn “Sheek” Jacobs, Jayson “Jadakiss” Phillips and David Styles-created a tremendous buzz on the New York “mix tape” circuit in the mid-1990s with its clever, energetic raps. The LOX’s second album, “We Are the Streets,” is due Tuesday on Ruff Ryders/Interscope Records and is expected to debut near the top of the sales chart. The LOX’s move last year from Sean “Puffy” Combs’ Bad Boy Entertainment to the rival Ruff Ryders Records-home of million-selling rapper Eve and producer Swizz Beatz, who has produced some of DMX’s and Jay-Z’s most popular songs-is being viewed in rap circles as the biggest defection since Snoop Dogg’s jump from Death Row Records to Master P’s No Limit Records two years ago.