He may be regarded as G Unit’s poster boy (Young Buck’s sweaty bravado notwithstanding), but in truth, LB is the punch line prince. From G Unit’s early mixtape days, he’s specialized in rewind-worthy quotables marked by an assassin’s cold heart, an ironist’s savage humor, and a willingness to say what others won’t. Or, perhaps, shouldn’t. Remember—this is the cat who once cracked, “I’m hungry like a South African with flies stuck to
his face.”
right On Banks’s 2004 debut, The Hunger for More (G-Unit/Interscope), he couched his brainy witticisms in radio-ready tracks, honing a successful medicine-to-sugar ratio. Apple follows the same blueprint, but his bon mots are overshadowed by deliberately glitzy production. While Lloyd speaks on his favorite topics (ice, girls, guns), Midi Mafia supplies ominous, reverb-heavy drums on “Make a Move.” Dave Morris successfully tackles the tough assignment of providing an exceptional bounce track for Banks, Young Buck, 8Ball, and Scarface on “Iceman.” Tops here, though, is Ron Browz on “Help,” and he takes a glorious five-finger discount on Three 6 Mafia’s hi-hats for “Playboy Pt. 2,” the album’s highlight.
All the while, Banks talks his talk: throwing “bitches out the crib like Jazzy Jeff,” watching a TV “the size of Kevin Garnett,” and claiming he’s got a “white fan base because Eminem is my partna.” But these clever turns of phrase, the reason you go to Banks in the first place, are in lesser supply on Apple, replaced with boilerplate declarations of supremacy that are less likely to need footnotes. Maybe he’s having
an identity crisis. At one point, he claims, “Banks don’t rhyme for the backpack.” Methinks he doth protest too much.
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Article tags: 50 Cent, 8ball, Eminem, G0-Unit, Kevin Garnett, Lloyd Banks, Ron Browz, Three Six Mafia, Young Buck
Page printed from:
http://www.vibe.com/music/revolutions/2006/09/lloyd_banks_rotten_apple_g_unit_interscope/






Comments
1.
ronnie says:
man ya'll tripping banks aint nothing but a gunit toy solider and the soundscan proves it, nigga straight bullshit
May 3, 2007 at 7:29 am
2.
justin says:
banks is # 1 rapper and has the best punch lines
March 9, 2007 at 11:38 am
3.
cierra green says:
Hey,boo wat it do i love u so much and u r so fine and i love the way u smile! and wat r u doin to night hit ya gurl up tonight and call me cus i want 2 get 2 know u 813-325-3107
February 27, 2007 at 8:32 am
4.
Paul_G says:
Hey u Man u're so amazing with your voice,your music is perfect .
Keep up your good work
February 26, 2007 at 5:26 am
5.
Emmanuel says:
yo man you were crazy in one video but i don't no what
February 22, 2007 at 7:14 pm
6.
jonny5 says:
jonny12
February 20, 2007 at 11:02 pm
7.
tyson says:
bl banks u floped. u realased at the wrong time need time for this pussy game crap to blow over.
February 13, 2007 at 4:20 am
8.
Tomi says:
I am a LBs, and love the him as a person, he's been real. Also the article has a error.I thought that Hunger for More dropped in 2003, not 04, because at that moment he was just turning 21, maybe i'm wrong..I don't but i think its 03
January 10, 2007 at 9:17 am