Jason Terrance Phillips, better known by his stage name Jadakiss, is an American rapper from Yonkers, New York. He began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed with Puff Daddy's Bad Boy Records, an imprint of Arista Records to release their debut studio album, Money, Power & Respect (1998); their second album, We Are the Streets (2000) was released by Ruff Ryders Entertainment, an imprint of Interscope Records. Both peaked within the top five of the Billboard 200 and yielded critical praise; their two subsequent albums, Filthy America... It's Beautiful (2013) and Living Off Xperience (2020) were both released by Jay-Z's Roc Nation and met with continued praise.

David R. Styles, better known by his stage name Styles P, is an American rapper, best known as a member of hip hop group the Lox, alongside childhood friends Sheek Louch and Jadakiss. Along with the other members of the Lox, he is a founder of D-Block Records and was also a part of the Ruff Ryders Entertainment collective. In addition, he has released multiple albums and mixtapes as a solo MC. In 2002, he released his debut solo album A Gangster and a Gentleman, which contained the hit single "Good Times". The song peaked at number 22 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.