Styles P is a man of action. A video surfaced of the Lox rapper addressing city officials at a town hall meeting in February as he advocated affordable housing and jobs for the poor and disenfranchised people of Yonkers, New York.
Styles P, born David Styles, was passionate about expressing how important it is for native Yonker residents to have access to living in a new building development being built in a modest area of Yonkers.
Residents feared that the new acquisition of apartment buildings by Ginsburg Development Cos. (GDC) would cause gentrification, with high rental prices driving the native residents out of the area.
“Let’s make sure people of this town have jobs building this,” Styles said at the meeting. “Someone in here should think about the poor, brown and white people of South Yonkers when you put up this development and who can actually afford [it].”
Styles, who grew up in the projects, is renting an apartment in a GDC building that charges $4,400 – $4,600 for a two-bedroom apartment. While he admits that it’s a beautiful development, Styles is concerned that building more of these developments will eventually change the social structure and affordability for the area.
“We better make sure that the right people are able to move in that building and it’s people that was raised in South Yonkers or somewhere in Yonkers because other than that we know what it is,” Styles continued. “At least give the jobs and at least the opportunity for some of the right people.”
Months after the town hall meeting, news reports confirmed that GDC was able to acquire the Stratus on Hudson, a 74-unit building in Yonkers. The move would make it the 10th property owned by GDC.
All three members of the Lox, Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch, grew up in Yonkers, New York before signing a major record deal with P. Diddy’s Bad Boy Records in 1995. Since then, the rap group has made a name for themselves for real rap and have also invested in businesses that will improve communities, such as juice bar Juices for Life.
