The Lox has a new plaque to add to their name.
Two decades after its release, “Money, Power, & Respect” by The Lox featuring DMX and Lil Kim has been officially certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The track was released as a single in 1998 through Bad Boy Entertainment and was certified gold the following month. It is the lead track of the legendary group’s 1998 debut album of the same name. The album itself reached gold certification status in February 1998 and platinum by October 1999.
“We’re very better, very seasoned. Back then we were young. We were still rhyming for long amounts of time. We didn’t understand song structure. We didn’t live enough. We done did some living and been through lots of valleys and peaks of life. We’re able to talk about that now, but before, we were young and only able to talk about the streets,” reflected Jadakiss in 2020 with Billboard of their evolution since the classic album.
“We can still do that now, but now we’re fathers, business owners, and entrepreneurs. We still have the same edge, but we were able to show growth. For one, for just being here for this amount of years and still have our swords as sharp as they are at this stage in our career is a gift in that. I think we’re way extremely better then when we first started rapping.”
Styles P added, “More growth — and you can hear the growth. We’re like wine, we’re getting better and better with time. That’s rare in music now in itself. That’s why I definitely appreciate my two partners. Most MCs only get a seven-year run, if that. So, to be lyrical for this long, and to remain relevant is a very difficult task to say the least, but I think that kind of shows who and what we are made of.”
