Years after he blew up on the rap scene as a member of the Queens-based outfit G-Unit, rapper Lloyd Banks released his third solo album Hunger For More 2, the sequel to 2004’s Hunger For More. Now, with a messy label dispute behind him, the hard-hittingBeamer, Benz or Bentley lyricist has his eyes on the prize and his feet facing forward.
To Banks, time heals all wounds and rather than harping on issues of the past, including stale inner and outer crew beefs with his famed group mates and fellow New York City hip-hop collection Dipset; his focus remains on growing as an artist, making the best music possible and most importantly, learning from past mistakes.
Recently, Banks exclusively spoke with Yo! Raps about building his own brand, the new album, reuniting with Young Buck and The Game, and ultimately how he was able to squash the beef and keep it moving, all while providing some necessary advice to younger rap upstarts.
Back in November, you dropped Hunger For More 2. How do you think this album differs from its predecessors?
Well, for one, it [has been] six years since the first one. So, just overall, I think I’ve grown as an artist; grown into the music, as far as mixtapes and Beamer, Benz or Bentley -- that’s really what started the whole album. It worked well enough on radio for me to have time to write the whole album. So, the biggest difference would be just maturity and me growing.
I feel like I could out-rap completely the Lloyd Banks they heard in 2004. Now, I can do more things tone-wise; being melodic, build the bridges, and execute them. I think as far as building the album now, I pretty much have the formula.
I mean, of course it had the similarities [to Hunger for More] -- it’s the sequel. I’ve got some of the same features. But for the most part, it’s a whole new feel, a whole new selection of beats, [and] I have my ear to the underground. I stay in music on every album [and] I think that keeps the sound different.
Prior to you recording Hunger For More 2, you were dropped from Interscope Records, and they tried to re-sign you before you were picked up by [your current label] EMI. What made you decide to move forward with EMI?
You know, that the last few years, I wasn’t too excited to go back into a situation like that, where I wouldn’t know when my next album would come out. I was always confident in my music, but this is a business. It’s a big system out there, and sometimes you get lost in it. You can go from a main priority to a minority, and that’s just how it goes down. So, I wasn’t really ready to do a three-album deal and I got used to working as an independent. Beamer, Benz or Bentley was recorded at my house, so I got used to that.
During the Interscope drop, 50 Cent was quoted as saying, “When we win, we win together. When you lose, you lose by yourself,” but he was the executive producer for your new album. At the time, how did that statement affect you and how were the two of you able to move past it?
Well, he told me that before. It’s like, when you get a hit record, you need another one. So, I think it’s always something that will humble me; it’s something I’ll always remember because it’s true. Every artist is going to go through it at some point. You can’t really have a success without it, or at least not an interesting one.
You know, everybody expects you to do good all the time, and I think the things you go through make you who you are. Sometimes you need things; you need to not be hot for a second, and for me it was like a busting in the sides to have to go back to the basement, putting together new ideas before I had a record deal.
Aside from 50 Cent, what other producers did you work with on the album?
Oh man, Nick Speed. I worked with the J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League; they did the current single now -- Cardiak did Start It Up with Fabulous and Kanye -- Buda Da Future and Grandz [Muzik] did a joint with me and 50 called Payback (P’s and Q’s). There’s so many producers, man -- Frank Dukes; he did this joint with me and Raekwon [Sooner or Later (Die 1 Day)]; Kanye actually did three records on the album. He did one with me and Tony Yayo, [and] he did another one called Unexplainable with me and Styles P. You know, the production is not too mainstream as far as the names go, but that’s not what I was looking for.
There are a lot of collaborations on the album. You have one on there with Eminem, the bonus track Where I’m At. How did that collaboration happen?
Well, we had a talk, and we were just going back and forth. I actually sent him a couple records, then there was a leak issue on one of [them] -- he had a verse on Celebrity. [So], he sent me another record that he was working on, one of his most recent records. We spoke on the phone, figured out what the concept was, and I heard his verse through the phone -- I only had to hear it one time. It wasn’t enough to remember it, but it was enough to guide me though what I was going to do with my verse. You know, we worked before plenty of times, so I knew what he expected. That’s Eminem. I had to sit with it and I put my own to it.
And then what about you working with Kanye and G.O.O.D. Music on Start it Up, and Swizz Beatz and everyone else on that track? How did that come about?
Actually, we did a couple records. We did that and we did a record called Christian Dior Denim Flow, which is me, Kanye, Pusha T, John Legend, Kid Cudi; Ryan Leslie is on there. Then we had the Start It Up record too. You know, me and Fab -- I left the studio and I got Fab’s verse, and I went over to check Kanye’s, and he put in what he had, and we just packaged it all together. [In fact], Kanye, he left a message on Twitter speaking on him feeling that I was underrated as an artist, and after that I was like, ‘We got to reach out to Kanye. Let’s see if we can make something happen.’
You were speaking before about Beamer, Benz or Bentley, which is a great record. But there were disputes back in the day with G-Unit and Dipset, yet you recorded with Dipset member Juelz Santana. How did you guys start working together?
I mean, really with Cam and 50, that was hip-hip. Juelz will be the first to tell you; that’s just what’s going on in rap. Rap is competitive. So, [Cam’ron and 50 Cent] had what they had, and that’s over. 50 had the concert on Governor’s Island and brought everyone together, D-Block and shit -- everybody. So, I think that time heals everything -- well, not everything, but [the] things that can be and, you know, we stand for New York City hip-hop. As far as me and Juelz, [Beamer, Benz or Bentley] wasn’t actually the first thing we had worked on together, but it was the first thing [the fans] heard, and it just struck a match. I think people wanted to see that. Sometimes when you’ve got to wait for it, it has a big impact.
Actually, Dipset did an interview recently with MTV, and 50 Cent kind of echoed Cam’ron’s statement, which was that the dispute between G-Unit and Dipset turned out to be a really good thing for hip-hop in the long run. Do you agree with that?
You can talk about legendary battles now -- Nas, Jay-Z. There are just so many different battles that happened in hip-hip [and] it is what it is. But as far as the battle [between G-Unit and Dipset], I think a lot of things come with maturity. You know, coming into the game, you just feel like you’re the best rapper. You only hear yourself. So, things change with time. I’m not trying to be 40 years old on the red carpet with a rap enemy.
Recently on Twitter, Game voiced his desire to reunite with G-Unit, but 50 said he no longer communicates with him. Is this true? Do you guys talk to the Game?
Yeah. I think everybody knows that’s true [laughter] -- I haven’t spoken to him, Yayo hasn’t spoken to him, 50 hasn’t spoken to him -- like, that’s so old to me. I mean, things are the way it is. It’s time to build your own brand up. That’s what I’m out here trying to do.
You know, what we’ve done as the crew G-Unit is second to none. I feel like if they close the books, we [made] history now, but I’m focused on the next five years of in our careers. I want to make people who [do] not support us, support us. That’s my goal, and I would advise him to also.
Focus on your career because coming back into a group, that’s the way we came into the game. 50 gave us a chance to stand out as solo artists when we dropped the album Beg For Mercy. We did that already. [But], now is the time to establish ourselves and build our brand up as big as possible as solo artists, and when you do come together and do a G-Unit album, then it’s that much bigger.
What about Young Buck? He said he wants to get out of his contract with G-Unit Records. Is there still beef between the group and him, or has that been squashed since?
I haven’t spoken to Buck. It’s the same situation. It’s a pretty old situation that remains the same. I don’t know what’s going on with contracts like that.
So, aside from focusing on everyone’s solo careers, would there be a possibility in the future -- or would you be open to -- a reunion with G-Unit?
You mean, consisting of?
A show, an album.
With Game and Buck?
Well…
We just performed together in Vegas. G-Unit is a whole. It’s intact as the people [the fans] remember from 2000, 2001- Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and 50 Cent. We’re completely intact.
Speaking of Tony Yayo, he has a new album coming out. Do you know anything about it or when it will be released?
Not exactly. I don’t know the specifics. I know he’s working on it. I just spoke to him last night, so he’s working hard, man. He played me a few features he has already, but I’ll let him tell you that.
How do you think you’ve grown lyrically over the years?
Wow. Well, that’s the most important thing to me. But I’m driven lyrically, so I consider myself as -- see, I always wanted to be not predictable, and [when] I came into the game, it was more punch lines; a lot of witty lines, because coming into the mix tape market, you just -- you just have [to have] the shock value. It’s like ready, set, go when you have 50 seconds to excite the crowd, [and] it’s hard to excite them with, you know, 30 bars of rap. It’s hard to excite people with the hard realities, so you live outside the box.
You know, imagination is much bigger than life. Nice cars -- you drive by and say, ‘that’s my car,’ so a lot of your raps are talking about things you want to have, and they’re all exciting. You can’t dim those things down, and I think that me growing into what I’m doing now -- even at that time of my career’s beginning], my whole style was different because I rapped in front of a crowd. So, at the time I tried. I didn’t get into a vocal booth until later on, maybe 17 or 18 [years old], [but] anything you do consistently, you get better at.
So, I don’t want to be too complex [in my lyrics] to the point where people don’t understand me, but I wouldn’t mind people rewinding to find it out. The things that I heard when Biggie first came out that I didn’t understand, I listen to now and I understand [them].
You’ve said before that you don’t want to be rapping when you’re 40. But you’re still young -- where would you like to see yourself in five years?
Well, first off, when I say I don’t see myself rapping [at 40-years old]; I don’t think I’m ever going to stop rapping. When I say rapping, I mean [being] out there. I mean, doing everything that it takes to have success, because if that’s your journey to be one of the best, you’ve got to be any and everywhere. So, that’s what I meant by that.
But five years from now, hopefully [I’ll be] more successful. I feel like I’m an artist that can put out an album every year. I make that much material, and hopefully [I’ll be able to] build my brand up to the point where I could have a platform for another artist. For the next Lloyd Banks -- you know, not even the next Lloyd Banks, [just] the next “it” thing.
Do you have any desire to get into the movies?
I love movies, but at the same time the music opens up the door for all those situations to happen, and I feel like I’m on my way. There were points in my career where I was frustrated, but now I’m just excited about the music; I want to just catch a lot of momentum, and leave my stamp here because movies take a little -- I can’t say more of your time, but it demands more of your time in a period.
You might have to be on a movie set for 45 days, so it ain’t no going in the studio. You can’t really do both. So, I want to make sure my spot is solidified here [in music]. Then I can take a year where I can focus mostly on doing films. At the same time, I’m a fan of movies so much; I just don’t want to do anything, so I keep that in mind. But we got a couple years, we got a little time [for that].
In your career, what do you think has been the most important lesson you’ve learned so far?
Most important lesson? Wow. Probably, I got to say, it’s to keep your circle small. If I could just flash back on how things were coming into the game, I feel like I could have done so much more. But you know, when you first get into this situation, everybody smells money. It’s just like, they don’t know how they’re going to get it, but they smell it. So your entourage will be 100 people. You live life just a little crazy, so my advice to aspiring artists coming in -- because there’s one thing being a rapper and another thing being an artist in the business. So yeah, keep your circles small. Don’t wait to take seven years to filter everything out to where you can be completely focused.