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"I had to beg 50, 'You're 11 million records sold, leave.' ...
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50 Cent loves when fans like Banks better than him ...
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— by Shaheem Reid, interviews by Sway Calloway, Joseph Patel and Shaheem Reid
With all his street credibility, all his millions of records sold, all his hit songs and all his radio airplay, 50 Cent still may not be the best MC in his crew.
It goes against the usual rap M.O., which works something like this: An MC comes out, develops a strong fanbase, sells a gazillion records, then has enough clout in the industry to start a vanity label and put his or her friends on. If the coattailers gain their own fans and sell, dope. If they flounder or never even see their record released, it's not that big a deal — the superstar of the crew will make enough money to keep the team living large.
But then there's the G-Unit, a crew composed of five MCs from different regions who are all nice on the mic. There's 50 Cent, a master with his reality raps. There's Lloyd Banks, a wizard with wordplay, who brutalizes metaphors with humor and brash, young G bravado. Tony Yayo, all about telling tales of hustling drugs, is the hypest member of the crew to hold the steel. Then you have Young Buck, who oozes with arrogance, and Game, who's just raw, the antithesis of a non-threatening black man. But even with each member of the Unit carving his own niche during the 50 Cent mania of 2002-2003, there was no question — 50 was spitting craziest.
This year, however, it's Lloyd Banks' time. And not just to follow up 50: Some fans are saying that Banks is even better than the G-Unit captain, especially when it comes to lyrics.
"They gave me the lyrical [championship]," Banks, a.k.a. Boy Wonder, says of his fans and some media types' response to him. " 'He's the most lyrical,' that's hard. Don't get me wrong, I was aiming for that title, not just in the G-Unit, I want to be the most lyrical in the game, period."
It's not like Banks was a slouch before. He is, after all, the 2003 Mixtape Artist of the Year. But in 2004, Banks has stepped up his game a few notches in preparation for the release of his solo debut, Hunger for More.
"You know what irks me, when people say, 'You're guaranteed to go because of 50. You're gonna blow,' " Banks says. "That's bull."
While being 50's artist has afforded Banks way more fame and luxury than most debuting MCs, Banks has certainly risen up to the occasion. He's put all eyes on him, incessantly hitting the mixtapes with freestyles and unreleased material. He's stood on his own with such tracks as "Bangers" and "Warrior," and stolen the show on posse cuts like "I'm So Sorry." He can go from outlandish one-liners ("My words touch the kids like Michael") to potent b-boy-based punch lines ("If you don't learn how to relax, swallow steam/ There'll be more shells in the grass than Halloween").
"When I go in the studio, I gotta keep making them go, 'Oooooh! Did you hear what he just said?' " Banks says. "50 could just be himself, he's just going in the booth and telling whatever happened to him today or yesterday. The 'most lyrical' title makes me feel like I gotta get on my job."
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Lloyd Banks
a.k.a. The Boy Wonder
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Part of the job for Banks means never substituting quantity for quality. No matter if he's putting records out in stores or in the streets, he says chances are you won't hear him at anything less than his best. "Before I put out a mediocre freestyle, I won't put one out. I'll disappear for a minute, then I'll come back and have the impact," he explains.
Luckily, L.B. has enough rhyme reserves in his arsenal to keep him around for a while. "I'll never disappear, but I will leave the lane open for Young Buck, Yayo, Game," Banks says. "I'll leave the lane open like when 50 left and fell back for me. I had to beg 50, 'You're 11 million records sold, leave. Can I get an award? Can I get a plaque?' At the end of the year, I want to be able to go, 'Buck's a platinum artist, Game's a platinum artist and Yayo's a platinum artist' so I can get some of their money."
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Photo: Interscope
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