"The Hunger For More" by Lloyd Banks (2004)
Artist: |
Lloyd Banks |
Album: |
The Hunger For More |
Released In: |
2004 |
Reviewed By: |
Tyson Cantrell |
Grade: |
2.5 |
File this under party-slut dance mix. Picture a random house party, or a bunch of sweet bros hanging out at the drags - late at night with buzzed party gals dancing in the beams of their Fast and the Furious after-market headlights like Beyonce; shakin' thay ass like it ain't no thang. This is pretty much the scenario I envisioned when I first started to listen to Lloyd Banks' The Hunger for More.
This kind of rap sells but there is really no balls to it. Sure they can rap about gunslingin', coke runnin', bitches and never forget to mention how much money they have, but this kind of commercial rap is a dime a dozen these days.
Lloyd Banks, 50 Cent, and Tony Yayo started the G-unit label and empire. Yet when I listen to The Hunger for More, I do not hear a hardcore no bullshit G-unit head. I do, however, hear something that I could just as easily throw in the same basket with Nelly or Fabolous. For being such a major player in the industry, Banks' new disc is aptly titled, because of it's lack of stand-out tracks. Not only does it leave the listener hungry for more, but starving for anything.
This thing is so lackluster that it's practically annoying, you would think that a cameo by Snoop entitled "I Get High" might be a "high"light, sadly it only taxed my patience all the more. As though all this Hunger For More might just be a cheap case of the munchies.
Though there's been some exciting newcomers that have livened up the rap genre this year (Kanye, Dizzee) I can't help but miss the days when A Tribe Called Quest, early Wu-Tang Clan, and The Roots were at the height of their game. When they grabbed the mic and executed finely fabricated freestyles and rants about black inequality, social injustice, and growing up watching your friends die on the street. I do not doubt Lloyd Bank's street credibility and I'm sure him and the rest of his
G-Unit cohorts have plenty of it. One thing I do doubt is his originality. With all of the resources and talented people at his beck and call over there at G-unit, you'd think that Banks could have done something half-way worthwhile with the image of popular rap. Then again, I suppose in this instance you could argue the point that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." After all this music is generating millions of dollars so why jeopardize the flow, yo?
I wouldn't want to miss out on an episode of Cribs, where we'd get a first-hand tour of how Lloyd spent all this hard-earned money that he earned working at the cookie-cutter hip-hop factory. It's starting to get a little discouraging to see all of these over-produced hip-hop groups coming down the pike, all sounding the same. "Bling-bling rap" is to the hip-hop scene what pop-punk-emo is to the underground hardcore and alternative scene - flooding the market and drowning out the true sound of the genre with a synthetic/overproduced "This is what the kids like and it will sell" attitude. Then again - it beats the hell outta pimpin'.
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