Styles P - Death Before Dishonor Review

A little over 5 hours ago, Ruff Ryders alumni Styles P announced his upcoming album Penultimate: A Calm Wolf Is Still A Wolf (1/27). Yes folks, the name says it all, Styles P is dropping one more solo album (after this) before retiring. When that time comes it will be a sad day for Hip Hop but it will definitely give him more time to expand Juices for Life, Farmacy for Life, and spend time with family. In addition to the upcoming album announcement, Styles P surprised fans with the lead single, Death Before Dishonor. Let's talk about it....

The Intro​

"Death Before Dishonor" starts off with a 80's dance style synth that leaves you in suspense...are monstrous drums about to drop or is it about to be a strange crossover? Who knows!

...then the beat drops.

No monstrous beat drop...just a lone kick drum hitting on the one, a guitar fluttering, and then a snare hit that moves the song forward. Ehhhh...I'm a bit let down, I can't lie.

The Hook​

Brady Watt is on the hook and while his voice is amazing, it leaves me even more confused. What is this? The hook sounds like it belongs to an arena rock anthem or better yet an Eminem song about overcoming drugs and depression. But even more confusing are the lyrics as they're sung in "Standard American English" but speaking on typical Styles P gutter style street topics, it's very off-putting:


Once again Brady Watt's vocals are amazing but I think he could have been better utilized on this track. Styles P took a risk here which is great but he should have went all the way by evolving the subject matter too. His life has evolved so much since Bad Boy Records, he is now a successful entrepreneur with Juices for Life and Farmacy for Life, he should bring us into that part of his life.

The Verses​

Now we make it into Verse 1 and it's basically standard fare for Styles P. It's not bad, it's not his best, it's basically serviceable. There's a strange phone conversation between Styles P and Brady Watt that feels out of place in the verse but it's not the end of the world. Verse 2 is a bit better but the beat is not doing Styles P any favors. He starts playing with his flow at certain points which could have worked out better on a different beat.

The Beat​

The kick provides some good bass in headphones and the synth line + guitar is a good combo but in the end the beat is boring. When you have a lyricist like Styles P you NEED a beat that doesn't do too much but this isn't really that. It's too subdued, it doesn't have an opinion, it doesn't tell you what the vibe is. Do you listen to this in the gym, do you smoke to it, do you push out in the whip to it? It's hard to imagine where you would listen to this.

Parting Thoughts​

To me, this song feels like one those collabos that come about because two people get along and finally found the opportunity to hit the studio together. It feels and sounds like album filler. It doesn't have an identity, a motive, or narrative. It's just a guy singing a hook on a beat that another put some bars on. If you want to truly understand what I'm saying put on any song from Styles P and Havoc - Wreckage Manner and you will immediately hear and feel the difference. I'm going to chalk this up as the calm before the storm and give it...

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