The LOX reached a whole new set of listeners with their Verzuz battle against Dipset, but even they didn’t know it would have quite the impact it did.
In a new interview with GQ, the New York rap trio opened up about the huge amount of attention they’ve received since the event. "It’s been a blur, but I don’t think I took it like everybody else did. We always work around the clock, but I definitely didn’t expect the Verzuz to have the magnitude it’s had; I can’t front," explained Styles P.
The same night the LOX put in their memorable performance, Kanye West’s team had contacted them to appear on his album Donda, and not long after they received keys to the city of Yonkers. "I did think people would enjoy the show, but I didn’t think it would be that impactful to them. But that’s hip-hop: it’s the fast life," added Styles P. While Sheek Louch, who has yet to watch the Verzuz performance back, admitted they have “a certain demographic,” almost immediately “everybody was just on it after that.”
“The influx of young fans is the best part of it all,” said Styles P. "Not even just fans of ours, but people who actually want to start learning their lyrics and getting real shows together. Little dudes coming up like, 'Yo, I want to make sure my shit is tight.' So seeing that shift has been way more impactful than how wild the month has been for us, personally."
The group were also friends with the late Michael K. Williams, who recently died at age 54.
Earlier this year, the trio paid tribute to the late DMX alongside Williams, and he also previously appeared in Sheek’s “Good Love” video. “I knew him from back when my brothers L and Butch used to run around with him back in the day," said Sheek. "Dude, he killed everything he was in—and I’ve seen him do it with barely any lines."
Styles P echoed those sentiments, and said that he first met him while he was acting in The Wire. “I’ve done meetings with police, group home kids, and communities building with each other off things he set up. Just him being there and working," said P. "It was just crazy how much he cared about helping people, especially the youth. He was a beautiful soul."
Elsewhere in the chat, the trio touched upon the importance of putting on a genuinely great performance, and Styles P used it as an opportunity to praise Megan Thee Stallion.
“These kids have the opportunity to be like, 'There’s an event coming up, so let me go book a day of rehearsal time,'" he said. "But a lot of them don’t know they should do that because their competition is doing the exact same thing they are. I was watching Rolling Loud and I liked Megan Thee Stallion’s performance the most because I heard her the most. She was [rapping] over the track too, but I still heard her. There were times when she was dancing and singing at the same time because she was trying to perform and you could see that. She put on a fuckin’ show."
Head over to GQ to read the full feature.
