During a prolific year for both artists, New York MCs
Dave East and
Styles P joined forces for the collaborative album
Beloved (
Def Jam). Following a pair of mixtapes for
East and
Styles' ninth LP,
Beloved helped land both rappers in the Top 100 of the Billboard 200 with their gritty collection of rhyme-focused, traditional street rap. The album also featured appearances by Dyce Payne ("Beloved"), Jazzy ("Don't Cross Me"),
Tish Hyman ("In the Jungle"), and
Styles P's main outfit,
the LOX ("Load My Gun"). ~ Neil Z. Yeung