Who can’t stand hearin your name all throughout the states “I’m on the move, smooth, with one eye out for the snakes “Warrior” exemplifies how supremely confident the husky voiced Banks is in not only achieving success in the rap world, but in clearing out any and all obstacles in his way: For those being introduced to Banks for the first time, they will find he’s unapologetically gangsta, yet tempers that lyrically with humor, introspection, and at times a surprisingly upbeat outlook on life. Eminem and Nate Dogg show up again on the haunting “Til the End.” The music winds down with Banks crooning to a multi-layered Diaz Brothers guitar-tinged track on “South Side Story,” although Banks does check in with a Tone Capone produced bonus track, “Just Another Day.”Īs for the lyrics, 50 Cent and G-Unit fans will find them to be no surprise. The silky smooth “Karma” will definitely be a future single off this album, no doubt backed by Baby Grand’s soulful and Kanye-like “Die One Day” – or vice versa. Chad Beat and Sha Money XL’s “If You So Gangsta” has pounding pianos that leave the song sounding lifted straight off 50 Cent’s “Get Rich.” The Eminem produced “Warrior Part 2” immediately follows, with rap’s most controversial white boy kicking a verse and Nate Dogg providing guest vocals.
These songs come not only back to back, but immediately following Banks two hits “Warrior” and “On Fire.” Let there be no doubt about it, other than a brief drop-off on the mediocre “Playboy,” the first seven songs of the album keep you craving more and more of what Banks has in store.įortunately for Banks the music on the second half holds up almost as well as the first, ensuring we get free refills with our meal and a nice big dessert at the end. Hi-Tek checks in on “I Get High,” Timbaland gives Banks bounce on “I’m So Fly” and Scram Jones produces a boombastic beat to ensure Banks and Young Buck “Work Magic” together. For the most part, the music on “The Hunger for More” is pure butter.
If they’ve got flavor, they’ll be gravy to go along with the rhymes, making each line more savory. The first taste test is of course the beats. Banks has paid his dues, but if the solo album isn’t as good as his prior work fans will be feeling like they got left holding the check. Critics and buyers alike are suspicious when any rapper gets put on as a guest on someone’s album, only to have their own album a few years later. When it comes to passing a buck down the food chain, there are always going to be skeptics. “The Hunger for More” not only describes the hustler attitude Banks embodies in his lyrics, but the attitude of a worldwide audience who can’t get enough of his gruff voice. After months of anticipation, after teasing the public with appetizers like “Warrior” and “On Fire,” the time has finally come for the main course. Based on the crossover success of G-Unit’s song “Smile,” a solo track starring Banks, it only seemed natural that he would be the first out the gate. 50 Cent had whetted the public’s appetite for G-Unit, and in turn G-Unit had whetted the public’s appetite for solo albums by Lloyd Banks and Young Buck (and undoubtedly Yayo too, when the time is right). To the surprise of almost no one, G-Unit’s album was very well received, and the rappers who had at times been thought of as just “friends of 50 Cent” emerged as stars in their own right. Unfortunately Yayo was largely absent due to a prison bid, but Buck held it down for him in his absence.
Thanks to 50’s overwhelming popularity, it was only a matter of time before G-Unit got their own album, and late in 2003 “Beg for Mercy” was the result.
Banks and Yayo were both featured on 50’s “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” along with G-Unit’s latest recruit, Young Buck. Though these tapes were largely designed to showcase 50 and succeeded in getting him his first deal since being dropped by Trackmasters/Columbia in 1999, 50’s G-Unit homies were far from left behind.
50 Cent first introduced us to his friends Banks and Tony Yayo as the “G-Unit,” though a series of well received mixtapes that spread far and wide beyond their New York origin. Got an insatiable need to dine on hardcore, thugged out, rowdy hip-hop? Do you crave to have big beats and fat flows fed into your ear? Lloyd Banks certainly hopes so.