Lloyd Banks
Christopher Charles Lloyd, better known by his stage name Lloyd Banks, is an American rapper. He began his career as a member of East Coast hip-hop group G-Unit, which he formed with childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo in 1999. After the release of their debut album Beg for Mercy, Banks released his debut solo album, The Hunger for More the following year. Met with critical and commercial success, it peaked atop the Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single, "On Fire", as well as the top 20 single "Karma". His second album, Rotten Apple peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and saw mixed reviews. Banks then left Interscope Records and signed with EMI in 2010—along with his G-Unit cohorts—to release his third album, H.F.M. 2 in November that year, which saw a critical rebound and peaked at number 26 on the chart.
Over a decade later, he independently released his fourth album, The Course of the Inevitable to critical acclaim.
Early life
Christopher Lloyd was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and raised in the South Jamaica section of the Queens borough in New York City; he is of mixed Puerto Rican and African-American descent. His father spent most of Lloyd's childhood in prison, leaving his mother to raise him and his two siblings. Lloyd attended August Martin High School but dropped out at 16. For his stage name, he took his great, great-grandfather's name Banks, which was passed on by his uncles who also shared it.Career
Beginnings with G-Unit (1999–2004)
was founded when childhood friends Lloyd Banks, 50 Cent, and Tony Yayo decided to form a group. They met Young Buck when UTP group came to New York and 50 Cent heard Young Buck rapping. After 50 Cent signed his contract with Aftermath Entertainment they took Young Buck in the group and signed him.Tony Yayo, being an older and more experienced rapper, joined 50 Cent on the Nas Promo Tour, the Cash Money Tour and the Ruff Ryders Tour. As Banks remained at home waiting for 50 and Yayo to return, he started rapping around the neighborhood to further increase his buzz on the streets. He then hooked up with neighborhood producers and recorded tracks for local mixtapes, becoming renowned on the mixtape scene. While Banks was recording Mixtapes, 50 Cent was soon granted his own record label by Dr. Dre and released the album Get Rich or Die Tryin'
Shooting
On September 10, 2001, Banks was shot twice while leaving a nightclub in Southside Jamaica, Queens. He was hit in the back and stomach, and ran to the nearest hospital after suffering the injuries. He woke up the next morning to news of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and watched from his hospital bed as the Twin Towers fell to the ground.Legal issues
During August 2005, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, and their entourage were traveling in a van, when the vehicle was pulled over after passing through a red light in midtown Manhattan. Officers said they discovered a loaded handgun and another weapon in the van. Prosecutors asked a judge to dismiss the charges after an investigation determined that neither Lloyd Banks nor Young Buck were in possession of the weapons. Felony gun charges against Lloyd Banks and Young Buck were dropped on November 8, 2006.In the early morning hours of January 9, 2010, in a Kitchener, Ontario hotel, an alleged altercation took place between Banks and a concert promoter over performance fees. Banks, and three of his associates, were later charged with forcible confinement, aggravated assault and robbery, and released on $50,000 bail.
Feud with The Game
The most well known feud involving Lloyd Banks is the feud between himself and The Game, which became public after The Game left G-Unit. Banks speculates that The Game was jealous about the attention Banks received after the success of his debut album The Hunger for More as well as Banks winning a lyricist title.Solo career and ''The Hunger for More'' (2004–2005)
Lloyd Banks released his solo debut album The Hunger for More in June 2004. The first single was the summer smash hit "On Fire" which featured 50 Cent, however he was uncredited.Banks explained the reasoning behind the album's title:
The album was a commercial success, receiving positive reviews. It debuted at number 1 on the Billboard charts with over 433,000 copies sold in the first week. The album has since sold over 1.5 million copies and has been certified platinum by the RIAA.
During an interview, Lloyd Banks commented on his first week sales:
Two other singles were also released from The Hunger For More, "I'm So Fly" and "Karma", the latter was a hit reaching number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 9 on the R&B charts and number 6 on the rap charts.
At the time of the album's release, Lloyd Banks was managed by Sha Money XL and Teamwork Music.
''Rotten Apple'' (2006–2008)
The Big Withdrawal was originally intended to be Lloyd Banks' second album. The album was leaked to the internet after Banks had a ménage à trois encounter with two women and left the CD album behind. The leaked version of the album contained 23 tracks.During an interview, Lloyd Banks commented on the issue, he said:
Due to the leak, Lloyd Banks began work on Rotten Apple. "Rotten Apple" is a play on New York City's nickname "The Big Apple". It was released on October 10, 2006. The album debuted at #3, selling 143,000 copies in its first week. Rotten Apple was not considered as a commercial success because his debut album sold a significantly higher number of copies in its first week. He has released three singles from Rotten Apple: "Hands Up", "The Cake", and "Help".
Departure from Interscope (2009)
Banks was dropped from Interscope Records in 2009.He is still signed to G-Unit Records, which will release his new album. Banks released a mixtape on his 27th birthday, which fell on April 30, 2009; it included the track "Officer Down" that dissed Rick Ross. Banks also released a mixtape in 2009 called V5.
In 2010, a year later, Interscope Records reached back out to try to re-sign Lloyd Banks. Banks did not go for it and put his third album out under G-Unit Records.
''The Hunger for More 2'' and signing with EMI (2010–2013)
In late January 2010, it was announced that Banks would release a new song, "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" featuring Juelz Santana, from his upcoming third studio album. "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley" charted at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100. In early June, Banks released the second single off the album, "Any Girl" featuring R&B singer Lloyd. Later on November 2, 2010, he released the third single Start It Up featuring Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, Ryan Leslie and Fabolous. Lloyd released the fourth single off the album, "I Don't Deserve You", featuring R&B singer Jeremih.Banks release info via his Twitter announcing that the title for his third album has tentatively been called 'The Hunger for More 2' and will attempt to take him back to his best work. However, the G-Unit label later stated that the title is not set in concrete and still may be altered. The title of the album was confirmed by 50 Cent as The Hunger for More 2 in an interview with MTV News. According to Banks, Interscope is trying to get him back due to the success of the single "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley", but failed when Lloyd Banks revealed that he had signed a deal with EMI.
After being dropped by Interscope Records in 2009, Lloyd Banks announced on Friday, August 13, 2010, on MTV News that EMI Label Services has signed a deal with 50 Cent's label, G-Unit Records, in which EMI will distribute and promote releases on the G-Unit roster in North America including Lloyd Banks third album H.F.M. 2 . On October 18, 2011, Banks was featured on the remix of Queen's Rapper Trav's single "Ride The Wave" alongside Juelz Santana.
Banks' had this to say about the deal,