Diddy and Jadakiss
Photo: Bad Boy

The O.D.: A Mixtape Daily Exclusive

People have been talking about Diddy and Mase reuniting ever since an online video surfaced in which the Harlem MC said he was coming from a meeting with the Bad Boy head honcho. But a different reunion might be going down between Diddy and one of his other acts.

"I would definitely love to do the next LOX album," he told Mixtape Daily recently in Los Angeles. "I would love to collaborate with them. I think it's important just to do. ... I would look forward to it."

Puff and the Warlocks together again? That would be big news for New York. The two factions were at odds for years before eventually patching things up. Jadakiss has openly discussed the possibilities in the past, but nothing has ever come out of it.

Now, with the Yonkers trio and Diddy both aligned under the Interscope umbrella, it sounds like things could be happening soon.

"We been talking about it," Diddy revealed. "We have to sit down and have a real meeting about it."

The ink on Diddy's new deal for Bad Boy with Interscope is still drying, but he's hard at work managing projects between the 'Scope and Atlantic, where a handful of his artists, including Cassie and Day26, still reside.

Acquisitions were on Diddy's mind, as he spoke about Raekwon's previous comments about him trying to sign the Cuban Linx rapper and Ghostface. But Diddy has too much unfinished business to handle, not to mention putting the finishing touches on his next album, before he recruits anyone into the fold. So any future plans may have to wait.

"I've always been a fan of Raekwon and Ghostface and Wu-Tang," Diddy explained. "To be honest, I don't know what the future holds for Bad Boy/ Interscope. I wanna take it day by day and get acquainted. The first move now is to get out this Dirty Money album, The Last Train to Paris. We gonna focus on that. Cassie has a new single, we're gonna focus on that. Day26, we still in business with Atlantic, we're gonna see that all the way through. We still have some unfinished business we have to take care of before we get into the future."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily: Slaughterhouse, Drake, Diddy And More

• Diddy
• The Lox
• Sheek Louch
• Jadakiss
• Styles P

LOX
Photo: D-Block

We have a lot of the hip-hop superstars circulating in the underground current this week. You already saw what we did with 50 on Friday — and the G-Unit general has a lot more to say. Check for that soon. Today though, we're giving the ball to one of the best rap groups of all-time, the LOX. Obviously we all know they have their crew of artists, D-Block, and we went up to Yonkers to their new studio to check the fellas out. (Sheek, we missed you — catch you on the rebound!) Also, in Streets Is Talking, we have a cat that hasn't been heard from in a while.

Anyway, we had so much content for our Miami Week last week that we decided to drop some gems on you.

This Week's Main Pick

Street Kings: D-Block

"Whoever doesn't put in, doesn't play," Styles joked, looking directly at one of the new D-Block recruits, Bully. The LOX are excited to see how the streets handle a full dose of the guys they are tapping as the next dangerous MCs.

"We got a massive team," Styles said as he and 'Kiss ran through the names on the roster.

"New money, new studio, new artists, new projects — new," Jada smiled.

The roster includes Straw, A.P. (About Paper), Chary Ary, Bully, Snyp Life, Large Amount, Tommy Star, Don D, Ty and S.I.

	MIXTAPE DAILY Who's next and who dominates — right here, all week long!.
	»The LOX Present D-Block
	»Other Notables: 50 Cent and Young Buck

"We always been comfortable with the lineup, because that's our little brothers — it's being comfortable with their work ethic and where their mind was. As far as artists, we felt they was cut from the cloth we was cut. They spit hard, they live what they talk. They know about this game, working hard nights, 24/7, 365. They know that. It's official.

"It most importantly starts in the studio," Jada added. "If ain't a life-or-death situation, you should be in the lab. If you can't be in the booth, be somewhere else with a beat CD playing. Everything else will fall in line."

The gully crew said their compilation album title is self-explanatory. Who would D-Block ever fear?

"We are the genuine article," Styles added. "We are each other's security. It's hard to understand when somebody say they was gangsta, they was on the block — then you got retired cops and other types of people protecting you."

'Kiss says they get so much love, who needs protection?

"When you hands on with the fans, it's better," he advised to fellow artists. "They spending 15 dollars on your project, they love you. They wanna touch you."

After this album gets a chance to breathe, Styles and 'Kiss say they have it all planned out. Jada is talking about dropping another album called Top Five, Dead or Alive at the end of the year and hopefully a LOX album will come before or around the same time.

"Now that this is wrapped up, it's full focus on that," he said about diverting the attention from No Security to the new LOX LP. "After we get this No Security out, you'll hear more talks on the LOX album. It's gonna be ridiculously nuts."

Joints To Check For

» "Like That Y'all." "It's real hip-hop," Jadakiss said. "Big shout-out to Pete Rock on the track. That's just bringing hip-hop back. Not saying it went anywhere, but you don't really get those types of songs on the radio or the video. [We're] just spittin' back-to-back. Sheek, Styles, myself, Snyp on the hook. We got another version with all the new cats on it. Just hip-hop at its origin. Not radio friendly, not club friendly. 'It's like that y'all.' If you know about that phrase right there, you know about hip-hop. That's how they used to warm the mics back in the day. 'Check one, two. It's like that y'all!' "

» "Trouble." "That too — it's real hip-hop," Styles explained.

"Big shout out to Chuck D!" Jada added.

"It's definitely a Chuck D rendition," Styles said. "We did it over ... trouble on our mind ... things be on our mind. Sometimes as an MC, you gotta go in the booth and go nuts. That's what we did. 'Trouble' really reflects an MC getting off his frustrations in a real nice way."

"No matter what, we refuse to lose," Jada said.

» "Let's Get Doe." "We wanted to do something classic and reflect the big homies," Snyp said. "Big shout out to G-Spin. The music spoke for itself. The hook was already done. All we had to do was come in and add our little part. There you have it."

The Streets Is Talking: News & Notes From The Underground

Ashanti got dropped, Lloyd wants off — Irv Gotti's Murder Inc. roster may be decreasing by two, but I.G. has one guy that's hanging loyal: Ja Rule. Yes, Rule is still down and insists he's coming back — but at his own pace.

"I'm working. I'm not in a rush," Ja said about his upcoming album. "I'm doing good work in the community with my Life Foundation. That's always a plus. But as far as the music side, I'm in the studio working every day. I'm about to go in the studio and work right now and finish up on the album. The album's coming out incredible. It's very different. I wanted to make it special. I wanted the album to be out of this world, and it's definitely shaping up to that. I'm not in a rush. I got a new situation — my Empire Music Group. Gotti's got Murder Inc. We're both still together — there's no separation. We're both together doing what we do, but I got my own situation and I got new artists. We're putting it together."

For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines.

• Mixtape Daily Video: Drake, Kanye West, 50 Cent, D-Block & More

• The Lox
• D-Block
• Ja Rule

The LOX's Jadakiss (file)
Photo: Brian Bahr/Getty Images

NEW YORK — It was a thug's dream come true — a mixtape lover's paradise — when the LOX performed their first official show in five years on Thursday night at the BB King Blues Club. They tore it down.

Please, do not for one second misinterpret "tore it down" for just giving a great performance. Watching a great performance you feel like, "This person on the stage is giving me my money's worth." You talk about it on your way home. Watching somebody tear it down, you stand in front of the venue for a half-hour afterward because you are so hyped, you just can't go home. Watching somebody tear it down, you wish your best friend who missed the show was there with you to share the euphoria, but you revel in teasing him the very next day. "Son! How did you miss the show? You should have been there!"

There's no place in the world that the LOX are bigger than in their hometown of New York. They've meant so much to the city for the past 12 years, especially the streets. Their allegiance to the hardcore underground scene has never withered, and when it comes to respect, you have to mention their names with the most successful and storied MCs from the Big Apple, like Jay-Z, Nas and 50 Cent.

The LOX, as a trio or as solo acts, have never had a #1 song or multiplatinum album. But those may be the only things missing from their résumés. The trio have clearly been some of the most lyrically talented and believable MCs on the block since they came in the door. Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch are some of the few artists who can boast making classic records with Biggie during the mid-'90s dominance of their former label, Bad Boy, and are still considered some of the best today. Ask Jay-Z, who just brought Jadakiss over to Roc-A-Fella.

Thursday night's show was billed as a reunion, but luckily the group never broke up. Its last album, We Are the Streets, came out way back in 2000, but all the guys have been permanent fixtures in each other's lives and careers — all three often pop up on each other's solo albums. If you count remixes and mixtapes, the LOX probably have 10 albums as a group. On Thursday night, it seemed like they tried to perform everything — a late Christmas gift to their faithful fans who sold out BB King's.

As Jada pointed out onstage, the show was like a mixtape box set of their greatest hits coming to life in front of you. They went all the way back to one of their first mixtape appearances, "You'll See," and then returned to the present for Style's heavily rotated "Blow My Mind."

It was time to scream "LOX" right from the onset, with the timeless "N---az Done Started Something," which transitioned into the simply titled, but musically potent "F--- You."

A lot of the records the LOX performed Thursday night were not singles and never made it to radio rotation, but as a tip of the cap to them from the fans, the audience knew every word. These were die-hards.

It was almost instinctive. You may not have heard a song in 10 years, but when Jada, Sheek and Styles broke it out of the vault Thursday night, something in your brain clicked, making you remember the words like you was playing it in your cassette deck yesterday.

Later in the show, as security threatened to shut down the show if people didn't put out their cigars, Styles pleaded with the audience to comply.

"We got lyrical weed," added the charismatic Kiss. "Dope Money" followed. Later came Jada's "Show Discipline" and "All for the Love."

"Whyyyyy-o! Whyyyyy-o!" chants started to ring out from the crowd, giving props to the LOX's original stomping ground of Yonkers, New York, a.k.a. Y.O.

"I got a head rush," Jadakiss smiled after the frenzied "Money, Power, Respect."

After "Reservoir Dogs," Styles warned, "All the pu--- n---as get way in the back. We ain't come to make you dance, sing or [show you're] loyal."Then came another anthem, "Wild Out."

The mic kept getting brutalized with "Kiss Your Ass Goodbye," the absurdly slept-on "It Can Get Ugly" and "All About the Benjamins."

The ladies got some love with "Ride or Die Chick," and even the gangstas had to dance on "Locked Up" and "Can You Believe It." It got so good to Styles on the latter, he started doing the Thunderclap.

SP, who just released his critic-approved Super Gangster (Extraordinary Gentleman) got the most light toward the end of the show, performing his new material, such as "Blow My Mind," "Alone in the Streets" and the LOX posse cut "Gangster, Gangster."

"I jumped in with $35,000 [worth of jewelry] on," Jadakiss laughed, leaping into the crowd to perform his verse. Sheek and Styles followed, saying their rhymes with feet planted on the ground next to fans.

After the show, the energy was so high, you could hear men reciting the hook for "We Gonna Make It" in the bathroom. Walking up the stairs and out of the venue, grown fans still had childlike excitement.

"Can you believe they did 'Banned From TV'?" one woman said to her date. "I love that!"

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports. And send your own concert pics, videos and reviews to MTV News You R Here!

• The Lox
• Jadakiss
• Styles P
• Sheek Louch

The LOX and J-Hood
Photo: Walik Goshorn

You're probably going to see a bunch of fans picking the mothballs off their "Let the LOX go!" T-shirts and pulling them out of the closet. The Yonkers, New York, rappers are so fed up with record-label politics that we may never hear an official group album from them again.

To make matters worse, the group's Styles P. and Jadakiss say that they will no longer put out solo LPs.

"We've been on a promo tour for Sheek Louch's album, and on the bus we just been talking about this sh--," Styles said. "They doing so much bullsh-- to us, and it's like you can't do nothing. It's like you work at a real job like at Key Food and you notice the conditions ain't suitable for you and you ain't really getting nowhere."

So what exactly does this all mean? It means that you'll still hear the LOX on the mixtape circuit, but both Kiss and Styles refuse to record any more solo albums for Interscope Records; and Kiss, Styles and Sheek Louch won't be doing another LOX group album for Interscope either. While they're still down to do guest appearances with other artists, they doubt that their label will clear the cameos. All three LOX members will be focusing more on their D-Block label and grooming new talent, like J-Hood.

"I don't see it as quitting, 'cause we're not quitters," clarified Sheek, whose second solo LP, After Taxes, is due on Tuesday "But we keep going back and forth and it's not getting nobody nowhere. We basically saying, 'Holla at us when you get it right.' It's ridiculous. Now Jada and Styles are going to switch to CEO mode."

One of the main catalysts for their indefinite hiatus, of course, is the LOX's feud with 50 Cent, who is also on Interscope. The group is upset that Ruff Ryders Records CEOs Dee and Waah Dean — whom they've known since their childhood — have been meeting and negotiating on their behalf with 50 without their knowledge and without being asked to do so. The LOX are also frustrated that they have not been able to have a sit-down with the head of Interscope, Jimmy Iovine. They say they've been trying to arrange a meeting for the past five months.

During that time, Jadakiss has been working on an LP he says would be titled Kiss My Ass. Interscope released a Styles single featuring Akon called "Can You Believe It," which is actually one of the hottest records in New York right now. However, Styles' LP Time Is Money still has no release date. The album has been finished for two years and has been pushed back incessantly. Styles said that Interscope recently told him it wanted to finally put the album out this month, but a number of factors caused him to dissuade the company to do so. He explains that the record would have come out without the proper setup, and would have hit shelves around the same time as Sheek's After Taxes, which has been long advertised as dropping November 8.

"They put our backs against the walls," Jada vented on Monday (November 7). "Sh-- ain't right. It ain't panning out."

Styles put part of the blame for his record's delay on 50 Cent's influence at Interscope. 50 has nicknamed himself "Curtis 'Interscope' Jackson" and on records he's warned Jadakiss that he would indeed push Styles' album back. Recently on New York radio, 50 initially denied having anything to do with Styles' LP delay, then hinted that he may indeed have had a hand in its scheduling.

"On the radio he said the building leans when he leans," Styles detailed. "What is that telling me? I don't wanna go to jail. And I don't wanna step on none of these rich people's toes. I don't wanna argue with none of these people and I don't wanna continue to frustrate myself wondering when my album is gonna come out. I'm at a point in my life when I can't be waiting two years for them to drop my album. Why be a slave?"

In the past couple of weeks, 50 has divulged a plan to put aside his feud with the LOX and help Jada make his next album (see "50 Cent Open To Doing Business With Jadakiss, Urges Calm Over 'Murda' Mase"). Needless to say, Kiss said he would never work with 50 Cent.

"It'll be over for hip-hop," Styles said of what would happen if Jada worked with G-Unit. Styles also elaborated that he heard the Ruff Ryders were trying to iron out a deal to put the next Kiss album out with G-Unit, much like how G-Unit and Aftermath released the Game's The Documentary earlier this year.

"The sh--'s crazy. It makes you go, 'This sh-- is crazy,' " Styles said about learning of Dee and Waah's talks with 50. "I don't understand what the f--- is going on. We keep speaking and speaking [to Ruff Ryders] and it seems like nothing is getting nowhere. The sh-- is worse now. They trying to get Jada on G-Unit."

The final factor causing Styles and Kiss to step away from the mic is the fact that Diddy still owns a significant amount of their music publishing and they've been unable to sit down and renegotiate with him. In the late '90s, the LOX were displeased with how Bad Boy was treating them and staged the famous "Let the LOX go!" campaign in which they publicly lobbied for release from their contract. They were allowed to sign with Interscope, but not without consequences (they say it cost them millions, including some publishing rights). Since then, however, the old wounds appeared to be healed. Diddy and the LOX even performed together recently at the Jay-Z and Friends shows in New York and Philly.

"I don't have no beef with him, but I'm not feeling him," Styles said of Diddy. "He don't want to come off none of that publishing. That's securing your future. That's what's gonna come in later down the line. The direction things are going now, it's going downhill. It's like we almost blackballed and we been fighting through the blackball. He has all this money, he has Justin's [restaurant], Sean John, he throws million-dollar parties but we can't get a piece of our publishing back?"

For LOX fans, there are a couple of bright spots in this whole mess. For one, no rapper retires forever — we've seen that time and time again. And the LOX could always end up at another label home. They've all confirmed that Jay-Z was interested in bringing them to Def Jam, but Styles says Interscope hasn't really entertained the offer as of yet.

Last week, Ruff Ryders refused to comment on its dealings with Jadakiss and Interscope. On Monday, a rep for Interscope had no comment at press time.

For Jadakiss' take on 50 Cent, check out the feature "Jadakiss & Fat Joe Sound Off" .

• The Lox
• Jadakiss

Photo: Interscope

• The Lox
• 50 Cent

DMX performs on Monday
Photo: Walik Goshorn

NEW YORK — DMX was reunited with his musical family on Monday night when he took center stage at the Hammerstein Ballroom. Celebrating the Tuesday release of his new Grand Champ LP by giving his first Big Apple performance in years, he received assistance from almost his entire Ruff Ryders family, in addition to LL Cool J, Stephanie Mills, Redman, Method Man and Sisqó.

(Click for photos from the show.)

Before the Dog made his entrance to the stage, his Double R crew mate and DJ for the night, Swizz Beatz, made the crowd nervous when he announced that DMX couldn't make it to the show because the police had held him up. It was obvious, however, that Swizz's statement was all part of the act when X came out soon after and was welcomed with cheers.

X informed the audience that he was in the place to be, shouting, "Bring it!" for his first selection, "We Right Here."

Then, to the dismay of his fans, X got serious when he told them that, in fact, he actually wouldn't be there for much longer, reiterating that Grand Champ is his last album. He asked the fans if they'd still have the same love for him when he stops rapping. They responded by clapping loudly.

Legendary vocalist Stephanie Mills then came out to perform "When I'm Nothing" from X's The Great Depression LP. Mills, who came to prominence in the '80s with a string of timeless R&B cuts before delving into gospel music, showed no signs of rust as she danced along with X and belted out the chorus with her renowned pipes.

"What you gonna do when I'm nothing?" X shouted. "You're crazy about my styyyllle/ What you gonna do when I'm nothing?/ Tell me nowww ... Tell me, tell me!"

X briefly brought the show to a halt when he walked over to the left side of the stage after noticing something on the floor. He picked it up with the tips of his fingers and revealed to the onlookers that it was a thong somebody threw at him. With half a smile, he threw it back at the spectators.

The King of Thongs, Sisqó, fresh from his recent run-in with the law (see "Sisqo Accused Of Shooting At Car, Resisting Arrest") and sporting black and blond cornrows, almost ran into DMX when he did his slide onto the stage at the start of "What These Bitches Want." "What these bitches want from a n---a?" X asked as Sisqó did the monastery dance and crooned the hook.

The LOX's Jadakiss will never be mistaken for a crooner, but he too had the whole ballroom singing along with him. Later in the show, he and his group added to the list of surprise guests (they included Drag-On on "No Love 4 Me" and performed their posse cut "Mighty D-Block (2 Guns Up)" with their protégé J-Hood).

"Everywhere we go-oh," Kiss sang, kicking off the underground scorcher. "People wanna know-oh/ Whooo we arrre/ So we tell them/ This is D-Block/ Mighty, mighty D-Block." Before their new clique's anthem, the LOX joined X to perform the Double R classic collaboration, "Money, Power, Respect."

X's joint ventures proved to be the highlights of the night as he jumped on the "4,3,2,1" track with Redman, Method Man and LL Cool J. J momentarily stole the spotlight as he received the loudest roar of the whole night. The building actually seemed to shake a little as the "G.O.A.T." began rapping his famous Canibus dis verse.

Of course DMX had more than enough solo cuts — "Get at Me Dog," the "Ruff Ryders Anthem" and "It's All Good" — to keep his following pleased. And at the end of "Party Up (Up in Here)," the Hammerstein crowd gave him a hearty send-off, for what might very well be his last New York show. They shouted "DMX! DMX! DMX!" as if he were Roman gladiator who had just slain a ferocious lion.

X is headed overseas for a European tour that starts on September 26 and when he returns to the States, his representatives say he'll launch a U.S. tour. The lineup for his domestic tour is yet to be determined.

For more sights and stories from concerts around the country, check out MTV News Tour Reports.

• DMX
• LL Cool J
• Stephanie Mills
• The Lox
• Sisqó

DMX
Photo: Def Jam

A little after Bad Boy and Death Row started to fall off in 1998, way before Cam'ron had the streets yelling "Dip Set, Dip Set" and before the G-Unit were completely formed, the Ruff Ryders were rap's #1 family in the streets and on the charts.

The team was unstoppable, DMX and the LOX had already established themselves as ferocious lyricists, Swizz Beatz's helter-skelter, gruesome productions had everyone from Jay-Z to Nas calling him for tracks, and Eve and Drag-On had hip-hop fans anticipating their debut LPs off the strength of their high-profile cameo appearances.

But lately, the Ruff Ryders are looking like a dysfunctional family. It's been rumored that Eve is leaving the label and going back to Aftermath, DMX says he's retiring and Drag-On hasn’t put out an album in three years. The LOX and Swizz Beatz have been devoting most of their time to starting their own labels, D-Block and Full Surface, respectively.

"It's no beef," scoffed Sheek Louch, who dropped his first solo LP, Walk Witt Me, on Tuesday (September 16). "People may think, 'Damn, it's over for Double R. They ain't doing nothing, Eve left. X doing this. LOX is yelling out D-Block.' I tell them that's not the case. Double R still has the potential to be the top label on earth.

"At the time when Double R had everybody, we were all kids to some extent," Sheek, pulling out his iced-out Ruff Ryders chain from under his shirt, continued. "Now Eve said, 'I wanna get into this acting thing. I wanna get a clothing line too.' X said, 'This movie sh-- is working.' The LOX said, 'We gonna do solo projects. We could get a label.' That’s the only thing that happened. We grew. Nobody's falling apart, nobody hates this person or that person."

It seems Sheek isn't double-talking about the Double R's love factor. Ruff Ryders CEOs Waah and Dee Dean let him out of his contract as a solo artist so he could drop Walk Witt Me on the LOX's D-Block label (The LOX are still signed to Ruff Ryders as a group and Jadakiss and Styles still have solo deals with RR as well). The Deans also let another of their roster's staples venture out as well.

Eve told MTV News last week she had no intentions of "jumping ship," but her next project will be a joint venture between Aftermath and Ruff Ryders that Dr. Dre will executive produce (see "Eve Says Ruff Ryders Still Family, Won't Make New LP If She's Too Burnt").

No matter what she does, Waah said, Eve will always be family. "She's always a pit bull in a skirt," he clarified. "Even if she goes over there, she was born and raised over here. We exposed her to the world. Now if she wants to step it up — she's doing movies and other things — me and my brother got nothing but love for Eve, Interscope and Aftermath. Me and my brother breathe easy.

"A lot of executives, when they have a lot of major artists grow, they like to keep them bonded into deals," Waah added. "We like to see them breathe and do their own thing. There's nothing like seeing your children go out and do their thing because you always gotta come back home. We teach them the formula, they go out and do it and we break bread together."

Waah and Dee have been breaking bread with a few different labels lately. Besides holding down joint venture deals with Def Jam (for DMX and newcomers Infra Red and Cross) and Interscope (for Eve and the LOX), they inked a deal with Virgin to put out Drag-On, new jack MC Jin and a female artist named Asia.

"It's a lot of checks flowing," Waah smiled. "We're just being humble and honest with what we do."

Sheek and DMX both dropped new albums on Tuesday. For Grand Champ, which DMX says will be his last LP (see "DMX Retiring From Hip-Hop, Plans To Read His Bible"), X shed his lone-wolf image and included the whole clique on the record and on a remix of "Where the Hood At," currently on mixtapes.

Jada and Styles' next albums may be right around the corner. Both are in the lab and Kiss says he wants to drop in December. The LOX already have songs in the can for their next group effort, tentatively titled Live, Suffer and Celebrate, and are thinking about a 2004 release date. Drag-On will drop his Hell and Back LP on October 21. Jin is due to debut early next year (see "Ruff Ryders' New Dog: Jin").

Meanwhile, Swizz Beatz is in full swing with his Full Surface Label. His first act, Cassidy, just put out a single called "Take It" and has another cut on deck, "Hotel," with R. Kelly.

• Ruff Ryders
• DMX
• Swizz Beatz
• The Lox
• Eve

Styles minutes after having been released from prison
Photo: MTV News

VALHALLA, New York — The LOX's Styles was released from Valhalla Correctional Facility on Monday morning (August 4) after serving eight months and 10 days for assault.

"I'm back, get ready for me. I'm hungry," said Styles, who has slimmed down by almost 30 pounds since being incarcerated. "I'm back at work. Nobody gets any room to breathe. I'm going to sleep with beats."

Wearing shorts, flip-flops and a white T-shirt, Styles, who spent his last 30 days in solitary confinement, said he's going to record Monday night and wants to have his second solo LP out by January or February.

"Let's go to the studio," he said, flanked by a small crew and mate. "Hard work, hard work. I'm home finally. It's going down. Everybody in the music industry, call me. I don't have no problems with nobody. If I did have problems before, I let it go. Call me. Let me get some money with you. It feels great [to be free]. I don't know what to say. I'm fresh out the joint. I'm lost for words."

Before Styles headed to the studio to quell his hunger for making music, he wanted to satisfy his appetite by eating cheese eggs, turkey bacon and home fries.

While locked up, Styles said he mostly worked out, listened to Nas and Notorious B.I.G., wrote rhymes and read books like "The Invisible Man," "The Art of Worldly Wisdom" and "Conversations With God."

He said his kids and his wife were what he missed most while locked up. "When you're in there, you see a lot of things. You go through a lot. Us being in the music industry, we tend to forget those who are on the lower levels messed up in the struggle. [Being in prison] taught me patience is a virtue. Time is everything, and love is a lot."

• Styles
• The Lox

Fat Joe on stage at Justo's sixth annual Mixtape Awards
Photo: MTV News

NEW YORK — Imagine going to the Academy Awards and instead of presenter George Clooney simply reading from an envelope and announcing the Best Actress winner, he asks the audience, "Of the nominees, which chick do you think could lay the smackdown on anybody in here?"

That may seem a little thuggish for Tinseltown's finest but for the tastemakers of the hip-hop community, mixtape DJs, it's all a part of their show. Mixtape kings such as DJ Clue and DJ Kay Slay as well as MCs ranging from Mobb Deep and the Wu-Tang Clan to Craig Mack and Sweet Tee flooded New York's Apollo Theater Tuesday night for the sixth annual Mixtape Awards.

"Who's the only DJ that will come onstage right now and smack the sh-- out of anybody on this stage?" Fat Joe, flanked by a dozen of his crew, asked the audience as he presented the Best Mixtape DJ award to DJ Kay Slay, who beat out DJ Clue and DJ Envy.

Although Clue did get the nod for Best Commercial Mixtape and Best Hip-Hop Mixtape, it was clearly not his night. An undercurrent of boos and disparaging banter filled the auditorium whenever his name was mentioned. Maybe he didn't take too kindly to being dissed, or maybe he had a late-night studio session with his protégé Fabolous, but the question mark man did not go onstage to accept any awards.

"They thought he wasn't there, [that] he [wasn't] showing up," awards show organizer Justo Faison offered as a theory for the jeers. Plus, "When you're one of the top guys and you got videos and you eating, people got a little hate," he added. "He's the one who's catching it now."

Slay, the only other multiple award winner, had plenty to say when he hit the stage for his three acceptance speeches. The Harlem DJ, who also won Best Personality on a Mixtape and Best Freestyle on a Mixtape, told the crowd that it should "Salute ni--as when they come up here. This ain't amateur night at the Apollo."

It seemed like everyone wanted to make an impact with the mic, from pioneer DJ Kool Herc schooling all the DJs about paying their dues and making sure they don't undercharge to spin at parties and clubs, to famed producer DJ Premier taking time out to acknowledge that Nas did a fantastic job dissing Jay-Z on "Ether" ("Nas did his thing, he ate him"). Even those who weren't onstage spoke their minds. Whatever was on the minds of the audience members was yelled aloud, from shoutouts to heckles.

Although the winners were announced Tuesday night, no one actually took any awards home — the platinum plaques never made their way into the Apollo. Due to the large turnout, the doors were closed once the show began around 9 p.m. and nobody else was let in, including celebrities like the LOX.

Sixth annual Mixtape Award winners:

• Best Mixtape DJ - DJ Kay Slay
• Best Artist on a Mixtape - Jadakiss
• Best Freestyle on a Mixtape - DJ Kay Slay
• Best Commercial Mixtape - DJ Clue
• Turntable Assassin - J-Love
• Best R&B Mixtape - DJ Famous
• Best Female Mixtape DJ - Lazy K
• Best Personality on a Mixtape - DJ Kay Slay
• Best Hip-hop Mixtape - DJ Clue
• Best Mixtape Producer - Ron G.
• Best Reggae Mixtape - Bobby Konders
• Best Blends - Bobby Blends
• Pink House Award - DJ Screw
• Brucie Bee/Starchild Award - DJ S&S
• Best DJ Mixtape Duo - Tony Touch and Doo-Wop

• DJ Kayslay
• DJ Clue
• Craig Mack
• Fat Joe
• Fabolous

Jadakiss
Photo: Christina Lantry

The Ruff Ryder kin are heading down to Atlanta to extend some family love to Bubba Sparxxx.

With director Chris Robinson at the helm, Jadakiss and Bubba Sparxxx will shoot the video for their rhyme exchange, "They Ain't Ready," on November 6 and 7. The clip will feature Jada and Bubba introducing each other to their respective inner circles and lifestyles, according to a source in the Ruff Ryders camp.

Produced by Timbaland, the track is the next single off of the Ruff Ryders compilation Ryde or Die Volume III: In the R We Trust. The album is due out on December 18, the source said.

Early last month, the company contemplated putting out Eve's "You, Me, and She" as the follow-up to the current offering, the remix to Jadakiss' "We Gonna Make It" featuring Eve and Styles (see "Eve Gets Snarky At Two-Timing Ex On New Ruff Ryders Track").

Styles, who's gearing up for the early 2002 release of his solo LP, A Gangster and a Gentleman, will be featured on Ryde or Die Volume III with a solo effort called "Shoot 'Em in the Head" and a collaboration with Tha Eastsidaz entitled "Eastside Ryders."

"It's harder going solo," Styles said, adding that he's learned by observing everything his LOX groupmate Jadakiss has gone through with his solo album, Kiss Tha Game Goodbye (see "Jadakiss, DMX Team Up For Goodbye").

"It's a lot more work," Styles said. "A lot more sh-- is on your back. Now they're just going to say something about you [instead of your whole group]. It's good, because I think we're going to be bigger when we do it as a group again."

Like the remaining third of the LOX, Sheek, Styles has been rampaging with freestyles and a handful of songs on the underground mixtape circuit in hopes to build a buzz for album.

"People always compare us, so you gotta go hard," he said. "We're brothers, so we don't really care. They heard Kiss' album, now they want to scream on me. When they hear my album, they're gonna scream on Sheek. It's a natural thing to do. That's how the game works."

The Yonkers, New York, native, who once rhymed that he was a "positive and negative n---a," said his album will reflect his dual characteristics.

"That's why I named my album A Gangster and a Gentleman," he said. "I feel there's two sides to every coin. I try to be truthful and I'm a good person, but I've also got a negative side. I don't feel guilty about either one. Whatever I do, I feel is justifiable. Maybe not in other peoples' eyes, but within myself, I feel it's justifiable. Maybe I might get a little violent, but that's how it goes sometimes."

Although he's still putting the project together, he said producers such as PK, Swizz Beatz, Rockwilder, and DJ Twins provided beats for songs on his album, including the title cut, "We All Gonna Die" and "The Ghost,' which is getting play on mixtapes now.

"That's basically a joint describing why I call myself 'the Ghost,' " he said. "I just wanted to take the time out to explain why, kind of get in-depth. I'm just a deep, spiritual person. I feel like I'm moving when I'm not moving. I just be vibin'. I just feel out of this world sometimes."

Here on Earth, the LOX are also concentrating on starting their own label, D-Block, with young-gun line-thrower J-Hood as their leadoff hitter.

"It will be in the future," Styles explained. "It really means 'discipline,' 'dedication' and 'determination,' things of that sort. We're keeping it quiet, though. You don't want to say too much sh-- before it happens.

"[J-Hood] is 17 or 18," he continued. "We had him since he was 12. That's what it takes. You've got to get to know a n---a. You don't become family overnight."

• Jadakiss
• Bubba Sparxxx
• The Lox
• Ruff Ryders

"Honey" Photos

• Lil' Romeo
• Missy Elliott
• Tweet
• Jadakiss
• The Lox