Lloyd Banks Interview

[miskal]

I t's probably a safe bet to say Lloyd Banks has been with more women than your average 24 year old. The G-Unit soldier lives a lifestyle many people merely dream about, admit it or not. He's won Adult Video News awards, he's partied with Hugh Hefner, and he's just gotten the green light to star in his own TV show on The Playboy Channel. Meanwhile, his latest single, “My House,” a walk-through tour of Banks’ estate, is steadily gaining spins with DJs across the nation. Things are seemingly looking pretty good for G-Unit's boy wonder.

But there's a storm of uncertainty brewing beneath the surface of all this success. The last G-Unit release by Tony Yayo failed to achieve platinum status and Mobb Deep’s acclaimed opus, Blood Money, has struggled for a place in the top chart spots. For an imprint that once boasted 1.4 million sales in four days with 2005's The Massacre, these struggles may be an omen of less festive times. As rocket fuel, for the first time in G-Unit history, Banks recruited some high profile collaborations from outside the camp that are certain to turn a few heads on to buying the album. He’s also got a diss record aimed at D-Block and Terror Squad that could shake things up in a big way across the five boroughs and beyond. – if he lets it loose. Selling records is serious business, and ain't a damn thing funny, even for a G-Unit playboy.

AllHipHop.com: G-Unit always collaborates heavily with G-Unit. On your next album, were there any collaborations outside of the camp that you took part in?

Lloyd Banks: Actually, the album is not stamped yet - ain’t no doors closed to features that could actually happen for crunch time. But, as we speak now, I got Scarface on the album; I got 8Ball on the album; I got Rakim on the album. I got a few. That’s a lot for somebody who doesn’t do a lot of features, you know what I’m sayin’? I got a couple more; I just don’t wanna pull names out the hat. I’d rather wait until it’s on paper.

AllHipHop.com: A couple months ago, some of your tracks got leaked, including a song you had with Scott Storch, and they were put on the Internet. Now, some think that leaks help careers, others think that it hurts them. How do you think it affected your career?

Lloyd Banks: I don’t think it affected me because I never stop recording. Even in preparation for this album here, I’m over the limit. There’s gonna be 16 records for this album, and I have over 60 records in preparation for it. I think all things happen for a reason, at the same time. If the records were leaked out, then, maybe it was supposed to be. If it didn’t get leaked out, who knows? Maybe some of them would be on the [record]. It also keeps you up at the same time. You gotta have two albums, in preparation. You might not be able to clear samples. When I had the original “I’m So Fly,” Nottz produced it. I couldn’t clear the sample. I had to take the acapella and send it to Timbaland, and he came back with the [official] “I’m So Fly” beat. It’s always good to have backup records.

AllHipHop.com: There was a rumor that a groupie leaked it, and there was a rumor that a girlfriend leaked it. Which one of them was true?

Lloyd Banks: I don’t got a girlfriend, so, if anything gets stolen, it’s some b*tch that wasn’t supposed to be… ya nahmean? That comes from actually doing too much, man. You got one lady over here and you got one lady over there. I don’t wanna seem like a dog, but those were just situations I was in. It would be me and three b*tches in the bed at one time, and, you might have too much to smoke, ya nahmean, and, wake up and your s**t would be missing. S**t like that is [no different] from [losing] a chain or watch. Mistakes happen, and you gotta move on from your mistakes.

AllHipHop.com: So, what’s up with this Bleu Hefner persona you got? I know the Hefner part, where does the Bleu come from?

Banks on Blue Hefner

Lloyd Banks: You know what it is? I changed my diamonds. I actually had a whole set of green diamonds, and, one by one, I started seeing dudes with green stones in they chains, and I started getting mad. I took it offensively because I know I started [the trend]; I know when I did it at. I was like, you know what, I’m gonna change my color man. I turned it to blue, it’s one of my favorite colors. I couldn’t be Hugh Hefner, there’s already one of those dudes, so, I [became] Bleu Hefner. I actually am working on a Playboy deal right now, so, it’s all gonna make sense. It started off as something I was playing with. I got a million aka’s: Iceon Beckford, Ni**a Rachi, New Diamonds…[Bleu Hefner] just stuck because I was having meetings with the Playboy people at the same time.

I already did the “Groupie Love” thing, and, after I won the [2005 AVN Award for Best Music], I spoke to Hugh Hefner, and he was just congratulating me and telling me what I have achieved, if I didn’t know what it was, and how much impact I have on that market. We’re in talks right now and it’s gonna all make sense. He’s Hugh Hefner, and I’ll be the New Hefner. It’s a dope market and it’s not like I’m pushing it all the time.

AllHipHop.com: But, is it porn that you’re pushing?

Lloyd Banks: No. The Playboy thing is not porn. Even their porn is like, soft porn. It will be more like a TV series. I would be me. They’d just follow me on the road, you know what I’m saying? I do so many shows and you meet so many women. What it is, is, now I’m having a talent search while I’m on tour. I felt like, I’m meeting all these girls, and then at the end of the day, they gotta be worth something more than me just going to bed with them. A lot of them be looking for lanes to get into modeling or videos and things of that sort. I’m also looking for actual talent as far as music goes. So, it’s like a big talent search. At the same time, it’ll be like, a week’s worth of shows following me throughout the road and seeing real situations that go on. I might put out a calendar, or, I might just have 12 different models picked out of hundreds or thousands of girls. It’s something that will make [touring] more interesting. I’ll have a reason to be around all those women, you know, more than one reason. I can get money off [them] too.

AllHipHop.com: With the exception of Game, you are the only G-Unit artist outside of 50 to go multiplatinum. I mean, Yayo hasn’t done it and Mobb Deep, I just found out, did a worse first week [in sales] than their last album which wasn’t on G-Unit…they haven’t reached your sales record yet. How do you explain that, if you all have the same base?

Banks On Rumors G-Unit is Over Except for him

Lloyd Banks: It’s a time and place for everything. If you look at the music, it all swung to the South real fast, you know what I’m saying, and it starts off like a tornado. It starts off somewhere then it ends off somewhere. The Mobb Deep album is a great album. All projects don’t work the same. The same way my career started off multiplatinum, some of the best artists we look up to today started off with Gold albums.

AllHipHop.com: You’re a New Yorker. Is that tornado something you’re gonna have to reverse right now? Because we have a Southern trend…

Lloyd Banks: I think you gotta just stay relevant. You gotta think: when 50 came out, there was a lotta other artists too. You have to just represent where you come from. That’s why the name of my album is Rotten Apple. New York City: When you see me, you see the Statue of Liberty chain, you see the G-Unit City chain. I been doing that. That’s not just now, that was when my album came out [that] I got that piece made. It’s just a coincidence that, I had all those pieces done up. They’re really looking for somebody to bring New York…you know what I’m saying…[to] have that energy.

AllHipHop.com: So, Mobb Deep didn’t do that then?

Lloyd Banks: I mean, I felt like they did. I felt like the energy was crazy. I got Mobb Deep on two records on my album. That shows you right there. Actually, they’re on the first record on my album. The pressure’s on me. I’m not in competition with anybody, for what I do. You’re all artists. You’re all good in certain ways. I just feel like, for what I do, and my lyrical talents, I don’t think there’s anybody, anybody that’s out there that can deal with me on any level. So, that’s what I’m a do. I’m a make you listen to mixtape verses on the radio.

AllHipHop.com: There’s a rumor that 50’s holding you back because you’re nicer than him. Can you address that please?

Banks On 50 Cent Holding Him Back

Lloyd Banks: No, my album comes out July 18th [laughs]. You know what? It’s crazy, but I love those people. I love all fans, man. You know what it is? At first, it was 50 Cent fans. But then, the 50 Cent fans would filter in to me and Tony Yayo. Then, Buck came along…there’s Buck fans that probably say the same thing about me! But, at the end of the day, believe me, when 50 hears somebody say that, it makes him smile because he created me. He gave me that lane. He’s the one that told me, “No, we’re gonna put you out as a solo artist.” I was just comfortable being in the group, cause that’s how we grew up together. I thought me and Yayo was gonna be a group at one point. [50 set us straight]. We haven’t even sat down and made a record to date. To this day, I have yet to sit down and write a record with the whole crew, since a freestyle. All the records [we make are like] “Yo, that’s the beat, aight, I got a verse.” And it comes together. I wouldn’t say I’m cheating myself, but, in a way, we are. We ain’t actually worked like that. I got my studio in my crib, 50 got a studio in his house, Buck got one in his crib.

AllHipHop.com: So you never really collaborate like a group, you just send verses in to each other, like that?

Lloyd Banks: Yeah. When you’re around each other so much man, you’re always in the same vain. You develop the same ear almost, so I might [use] the same beat 50 might pick, or vice-versa. It’s not that hard for us to work, man. Believe it or not, [collaborating in person] hasn’t been done, but, it will happen in the future.

AllHipHop.com: Did Game click well with you also under that formula?

Lloyd Banks: I never clicked with dude. I think he was intimidated of me just based on my lyrical abilities. It’s one thing to say a whole verse—that’s cool—and it’s another thing for n***as to be like, “Hold up, bring that s**t back. What the f**k did he just say?” I think he was really infatuated with that [quality I have].

AllHipHop.com: I’m gonna play devil’s advocate and say that the songs you made with him were good—and it sounded like you clicked. Some would say you’re only saying this after the fact, now that he’s gone.

Lloyd Banks: He was never really crew. I think he had too many insecurities within himself. He wanted to be too many different things at one time and, the respect wasn’t there, and I never clicked with him. Sometimes, I wish I would have went upside his head while he was there but, I tried to keep it crew, and embrace everybody. It was a bad situation. If you look at it now, it’s evident. Just look at the tattoo situation. You put a tattoo on your face and then cover it up? If I put that [butterfly] tattoo on my f**kin’ face, period, [even] without covering it up, my credibility is squashed. It’s like certain things you can’t do, and that’s one of them. My mother would look at that s**t and be like, “What the f**k?”

AllHipHop.com: His album is dropping around the same time as yours. What do you think about that?

Lloyd Banks: Oh, that’ll be exciting. You think that? [laughs] You think his album is gonna come out the same time as mine?

AllHipHop.com: It might.

Lloyd Banks: That’s cool. [laughs]. I tip my hat.

AllHipHop.com: You got a song on the next album, and from what I hear, it’s called “Death Wish.” Is that true? Is it going at The Lox, Terror Squad and Fat Joe?

Lloyd Banks: It was tied in to the preparation for the album, but it’s not stamped in yet. [Disses aimed at me] are like a catch-22 because the fans wanna hear your response, but at the same time, I juggle with whether I wanna put it out nationally or on a mixtape. On a mixtape, I can get on there and say what I want to say. [But] once you do it on an album, that’s going out worldwide, then you giving them worldwide notoriety. All those are options, depending on what they’re trying to do. N***as hear I’m coming back out, they salty ‘cause they’re broke and don’t got no album coming out [and] they might wanna say something. If they say something, then I’ma drop the A-Bomb on them n***as. They haven’t heard me do it yet. They haven’t heard me go in. I will end n***a’s careers.

AllHipHop.com: Is that the song, “Death Wish”? You think that’s the one?

Lloyd Banks: Only one word can turn into a diss record. I don’t write no song about nothing, about no n***a. It’ll just be one line and it’ll be enough to knock you out. Listen. You’re gonna know. You’re gonna hear about it. I ain’t heard s**t now, since they know I’m back on the market. I was falling back, trying to get my s**t straight. Let a n***a say my name right now, at this point. Tomorrow, day after, and I’m gonna publicly humiliate you. That’s it.

[Meho]

Thanks, lets hope its a dope album. Cake is fire, My House is so so. No way this is gonna drop July 18th.

[Detox Iz Not Active]

oscar the grouch didn't seem mad



and yeah, no way it's droppin in July

[Meho]

With NYC hip-hop on life support, G-Units Boy Wonder wants to reinvigorate the Rotten Apple with his new album. XXLMAG.COM caught up with Banks to get his take on the real New York, his new Playboy deal and why hes ready to put beef on the backburner.
Posted In: Features
Interview:Damien Scott

While many lament with a cry of “Bring New York back,” some say New York never left. And theyre not entirely wrong. Many seem to forget that the best-selling rap albums of 2005 were from a humble Queens native known as 50 Cent. And the year before that, his childhood friend and fellow Jamaica, Queens denizen, Lloyd Banks, topped the charts with his freshman outing, Hunger For More. Now that hes proved he can push a few units on his own, Banks is ready to step out from underneath the expansive shadow of Curtis Jackson and bask in his own limelight with his new set, Rotten Apple. But with 50 picking up artists left and right and G-Units sales stranglehold on the game waning, is there still a spot left for Mr. Gang Green to shine? XXLMAG.COM caught up with Blue Hefner and spoke to him about G-Units taste for beef, getting that Playboy money and how hes still having fun with hip-hop.

What are you trying to say about New York with a record called Rotten Apple?
I think New York is really going to appreciate this album. Im giving them New York City: the yellow cabs, the frank stands, the big lights, the tourist buses. But at the same time, Im giving them the Rotten Apple, the sour part of it. Im giving them the homicides, the teen pregnancies, the broken homes, the kids with no fathers, the police harassment. Its crazy because 2:30 this morning, I just got a phone call telling me one of my own boys got murdered. The shit dont change for me. People , What keeps you motivated? That shit keeps me motivated. Its bigger than me just rapping. Its me rapping and keeping me off the street and keeping all my n****s off the street. Im tired of having to pay for funerals. I actually have a tattoo on my arm of the Statue of Liberty and shes kinda covering her face like shes scared. Thats because I got shot the same day the buildings fell down, so I woke up in the hospital watching the towers. I was going through my own life and death situation at the same time. These are things people just need to know and identify with, man. The state of hip-hop in New York City is overlooked because a lot of the new talent is following in the footsteps of everybody else instead of just being individual.

Who are you collaborating with on the album?
Outside of the crew, I got Scarface on the album. I got 8Ball on a record, I got Rakim on a record. I wasnt in the studio with him. I had a record and I said, “I want Rakim on it.” I sent it to him, he sent it back. I really went for the legends. I was trying to get co-signed. It aint no telling how long theyll be rapping.

Did 50 have a heavy influence on this album as well?
I think 50 feels like hes already created the monster. He gave me the confidence and the know-how to do what Im doing today and he lets me breathe. He gives me my own lane. I recorded my own album, I wrote every song, even on The Hunger For More, but now its even more separate because Ive got my own studio at my crib. I still look up to 50. I look up to his lyrical capabilities, and musically, and what he does. I like to play him my whole record at one time as opposed to him seeing my every move. I dont have to be babysat at this point, and I think that makes him happy. Im pretty sure theres other CEOs who wish they had artists like that. I dont want to put any added pressure on 50. He has enough pressure with own career.

That track “Cake” has gotten a good response. Will that be on the album?
Im about to shoot a video for that. I wrote that record in about 15 minutes, no exaggeration. Thats the fastest record I wrote since “Warrior.” Its just when I heard the beat I heard the song already, and it just came out so good. Thats actually one of my favorite records on the album.

I heard theres another track on the album aimed at Fat Joe and the Lox called “Death Wish.” How long do you plan on keeping this beef going?
I cant even say the record was aimed at them because I only made references to them one time. Its not like I sit there and write a whole song about n****s. I wrote this record hearing all of the shit that was going on. Its like, You dissed me, you dissed 50 and you dissed our record and I cant forget that. We always get looked at like the troublemakers, like we cant let shit go. What do you mean I cant let shit go?! Im from the street. I got street principles. We dont let shit go like that. Once you cross me, you crossed off, period. A lot of these artists, theyre from the streets, and it shouldnt be that hard to understand why we can never be friends.

It just seems that every time a G-Unit album comes out, some sort of beef arises…
The “Death Wish” record, Im not sure if thats going to make the album. At the end of the day, I dont want people to say that my career was fueled based on controversy. Bottom line: Im not in it for them n****s, but I dont want to be friends. You not going to see me shaking hands or hugging nobody. I dont care nothing about them n****s and I just want it to stay that way. Im not promoting violence or anything, but them n****s arent even predictable, so I cant stand next to something thats unpredictable. One day you wanna squash it, the next day a n**** got a diss record. Ja Rule got another diss record—the n****s dead and still making music.

The G-Unit roster has become pretty bloated lately. How do you feel about all the acquisitions?
It was never in my plan. I didnt know how big it was going to be. I was just satisfied to become a household name. It started as me, Yayo and 50 and it blossomed into something beautiful. We went and got Buck from Nashville. Buck is like my brother now. Buck was welcomed with open arms, as well as everybody else who came into the crew. Thats part of 50s entrepreneur style. These are the visions he had before I even acknowledged it. Its the same way he envisioned me as a solo artist. I wouldve been comfortable being in a group. I didnt care; I just accepted it. I played my part and everybody is treated equally.

So, youre not bothered by it?
No, if anything its going to help me. If Im on stage and I look to the right and see a familiar face, and I look to the left and see a familiar face, that gives you a whole new comfort.

Does it worry you that Mobb Deep didnt sell very well?
No, it doesnt worry me. Its a time and place for everything. Sometimes the record business is a funny business. The record sales will be up one month, down one month. I cant dwell on that. If anything, it just drives me. Were all different. I put my sweat into it and if its received the way I thought it would be, then cool. If its not, then thats how the ball bounces. Im just hoping everybody take it in that way and let the record sales do it for their selves. Everybodys career is different.

Where does the whole “Blue Hefner” persona come from?
When I came into hip-hop, I didnt want to be the ladies man. I didnt ask for that shit but 50 was like, “Yo man, the ladies have a certain attraction to the way you rap, the phrases that you use.” Catering to the females, that shit catches on, so he was like, “Man, trust me.” Before you know it, the “Smile” record came out, the “Karma” record came out and I started hearing a lot more screams at concerts. I used to look at 50 like, Nah, n**** Im the punch line king. I want the street to be on my side. So the Blue Hefner shit is the lifestyle that came to me unexpectedly. When Im 19 years old and I got two or three girls coming out the room, after a while I got that image. I aint got no wife, I aint got no kids, I got the bachelor life.

You had some success in the adult film world. Are you going to be the Black Hef?
Im in talks right now with Playboy, trying to get this big digit deal. I had the Groupie Love thing that I was doing, and I was nominated for four awards at the AVN Awards and I won two of them. After I received the awards, I got a call from Hugh Hefner and Im like, Damn, this n**** Hugh Hefner on the phone! He was congratulating me and letting me know how big it was for me to walk in there for the first time and walk out with the biggest award of the night. So right now Im serious with them following me around, kind of like a Girls Gone Wild. When Im going on my promo tour going to Philly and Chicago and Milwaukee and all these places, Im going to be looking for the best women they have to offer. I asked my mother what she thought about it and she told me to go get the money.

Young Buck was recently positioned as the president of G-Unit South. Are there any plans for you to step into a bigger role within G-Unit?
I cant say. But I will tell you one thing, Im not going to make a move prematurely. I dont want to have a label with no talent. Otherwise youll be like Game. He left prematurely, now he has a record label with a bunch of n****s nobody knows about. Could you name an artist on his label?

Isnt Charli Baltimore supposedly on his label?
This is what Im talking about. I want my protégé to be talked about the way I was talked about. Im not going to throw my foot in the water if I cant swim. People ask me why I havent done movies yet. Id rather be a little piece of a big movie than a big piece of a little movie. I dont want to rush this. I just turned 24. This is my second album. First, Im trying to get my spot solidified in hip-hop. Let me handle hip-hop first and then Ill do everything else.

[Teddy Roosevelt]

BANKS is mad!!!!!!

[ABN]

Banks has less personality and charisma then a rock so it´s impossible to tell whether he´s in a good mood, when he´s pissed, when he´s sad etc. and his album prolly won´t go platinum this time around without a monster hit and that new single aint gonna be big.

[GangstaBoogy]

Lol @ banks pulling a "Piggy Bank" move. 'Well I did a diss track but I don't know if I'm gonna release it' lol. G-Unit is getting pathetic.

Blue Hefner? Iceon Beckford? Eww. I'm goin back to sleep.

[Minkaveli]

I don't recall Terror Squad or D-Block ever really dissing Banks.  Dude is gonna get squashed.

[Mo Z. Dizzle]

I don't recall Terror Squad or D-Block ever really dissing Banks.  Dude is gonna get squashed.

im not sure but i think Fat Joe mightve said sumthin bout him on a freestyle

i know Sheek Louch said that he took Fabolous' style and was only missing the chip-tooth smile (Clickety Clank song)

nothing major was said tho

[jeromechickenbone]

With all the outside guest features on the album, that tells you that they don't think he can sell the shit himself.  When G-Unit was on top you didn't have peeps like Scarface, 8Ball, and Rakim poppin up on the albums.  Sales are sagging and they're scrambling for anything they can get.  It'll be real interesting to see how this one turns out.

[Mo Z. Dizzle]

will Scarface really be on the album if he's signed to Rap-A-Lot?

[GangstaBoogy]

I don't recall Terror Squad or D-Block ever really dissing Banks.  Dude is gonna get squashed.

im not sure but i think Fat Joe mightve said sumthin bout him on a freestyle

i know Sheek Louch said that he took Fabolous' style and was only missing the chip-tooth smile (Clickety Clank song)

nothing major was said tho

yeah but that track came out like this time last year. dude is a bitch if he's gonna wait all this time to reply

[rip2pac]

It's probably a safe bet to say Lloyd Banks has been with more women than your average 24 year old

[Eihtball]

With all the outside guest features on the album, that tells you that they don't think he can sell the shit himself.  When G-Unit was on top you didn't have peeps like Scarface, 8Ball, and Rakim poppin up on the albums.  Sales are sagging and they're scrambling for anything they can get.  It'll be real interesting to see how this one turns out.

Well, it's about time they started refining themselves a bit, and bringing in outside talent is at least a sign of change, something G-Unit needs desperately.

[UKnowWhatItIs: welcome to my traps....game over]

Nice interview, thx.