| Hunger for More |  | Artist: Lloyd Banks
Label: G-Unit Records
Category: Music
List Price: $15.98
Buy New: $9.00
You Save: $6.98 (44%)
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Rating:  252 reviews
Sales Rank: 754398
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Media: LP Record
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 12.6 x 12.6 x 0.2
UPC: 602498627655
EAN: 0602498627655
ASIN: B0002ABSPO
Release Date: June 29, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Ain't No Click | | • | Playboy | | • | Warrior | | • | On Fire | | • | I Get High | | • | I'm So Fly | | • | Work Magic | | • | If You So Gangsta | | • | Warrior, Pt. 2 | | • | Karma | | • | When the Chips Are Down | | • | Til the End | | • | Die One Day | | • | South Side Story |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
It's a 50 Cent world, and we're just living in it. Lloyd Banks's solo debut is one in an upcoming series of G Unit-affiliated releases coming to a hood near you. With his understated raspy flows and gift for penning clever punch lines, Banks has long been considered the crew's nicest lyricist. He might also be the most braggadocious. On choice cut "Warrior," the narcissism begins: "I'm smooth as the Isleys, sometimes I surprise me." Then there's the self-explanatory "I'm So Fly," produced by Timbaland, and "If You So Gangsta," where he informs his fellow hood dwellers why they can't compete with the "rap Lebron." As with all G Unit productions, the beats are first-rate. Remarkable backing tracks supplied by underrated producers Hi-Tek and Baby Grand ("I Get High," "Die One Day") act as a much needed counterweight to Banks's cliched thug-guns-girls-jewelry banter. A better reason to cop this album is to hear Banks's introspective take on the flipside of thug living. R&B-tinged ballad "Karma" demos his ability to serenade the hotties in more, um, gentlemanly fashion. When he raps "if it wasn't for 50, I probably wouldn't be around," he might be right. But the rap world's no worse off with this capable debut in our midst. --Dalton Higgins
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| Customer Reviews: Read 247 more reviews...
 Lloyd Banks Debut Is A Cult Classic... October 12, 2008
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. 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. 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. Banks and Yayo were both featured on 50's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" along with G-Unit's latest recruit, Young Buck. 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. Unfortunately Yayo was largely absent due to a prison bid, but Buck held it down for him in his absence.
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. 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). 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. After months of anticipation, after teasing the public with appetizers like "Warrior" and "On Fire," the time has finally come for the main course. "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.
When it comes to passing a buck down the food chain, there are always going to be skeptics. 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. 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. The first taste test is of course the beats. If they've got flavor, they'll be gravy to go along with the rhymes, making each line more savory. For the most part, the music on "The Hunger for More" is pure butter. 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. 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.
Fortunately 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. 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. 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. 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."
As for the lyrics, 50 Cent and G-Unit fans will find them to be no surprise. 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. "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:
"I'm on the move, smooth, with one eye out for the snakes
Who can't stand hearin your name all throughout the states
Tune into BET and watchin your video
Pretending to be your friends but the smart ones really know, so
If that's your man warn him
Cause there's enough bullets in here to hit every NBA patch on him
N**** ride 'til I die the song I sing
You ain't ready for the war I bring
You ain't gonna do a God d*** thing
And I ain't ever scared I'm a warrior!"
Banks is not afraid to show that there's a price to pay for a gangster's lifestyle though. "Til the End" paints a portrait of a world in which random violence causes senseless tragedy, and certainly goes out of it's way to make sure that the hood is not being glorified. People accuse rappers of selling out when they leave the ghetto and buy a nice home somewhere, but wouldn't you too if this is what life around the way had to offer? Peep it:
"Nobody there knew they would die before they woke
They probably started off a beautiful day with weed smoke
Out of last night's p****, the murder that she wrote
Cold sweatin from a nightmare, mind on a C-note
You leave the door with intentions of fulfillin your visions
Constantly sidetracked, thinkin bout who's your man or who isn't
Maybe it's necessary - maybe you're overreactin
Maybe your actual downfall is that ho that you're clappin
Maybe your pillow conversations been controllin the actions
Maybe your homey overheard and never told you what happened
You look behind you when you turn the corner, cause death is promised
You done seen some n***** go before ya, the threats are honest
And with that lingerin in the back of your head
You know it's possible that you won't make it back in your bed
The confusion and jealousy and dishonor'll spin ya
But then none come worse than when that gunpowder's in ya"
Banks had a lot of opportunity to miss the mark and fail, giving the public a meal of fast fries and cheeseburgers that would have cured hunger only briefly but ultimately not be good for anyone. Instead with "The Hunger for More" Banks has clearly been crafting this solo debut for a while now, not rushing it in any way or serving up sloppy seconds. The taste is like a T-bone steak, grilled to perfection and served with all of the right side dishes. Listening to the whole album leaves you feeling filled, but definitely wanting to repeat the whole experience again and taste more of what Banks has to offer. While it's not better than 50's national debut or G-Unit's album, it's certainly no worse. Banks shows that the popularity of "Smile" and "On Fire" was no fluke - he really does have the tools necessary to serve up a fine plate of rap music.
Classic Joint July 1, 2008
I'm a Banks fan and this is him at his best. Rotten Apple left something to be desired but this album is a classic. Every track is a 5/5. You can listen to every track without skipping.
What?!?! May 15, 2007
Whoa! Definitely shocked from the reviews I saw on here. So much so, that I decided to write my own. Some of these fools had the nerve to not even mention "Work Magic" as a classic track. Aside from the other bangers, "Work Magic" WHAT?!?! Come on people, listen to that again. Mind blowing, just shows you who is writing this feedback. Honestly, before this album I barely listened to Lloyd Banks, because I thought he was another punch line rapper and I can't deal with that for an extended period of time. But the album "Hunger for More" proved me wrong. Anyway, this is a hood classic, maybe not a mainstream hit, but the streets loved it.
this cd is dope March 11, 2007
well its a really good cd and ill tell you a funny thing the first time i heard this cd i had no idea who this guy was or nothing cause i was in cali when i found it outside in the driveway and i went inside and listened to it then i got back and found out who it was and liked him ever since
 I don't know... August 8, 2006
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
I got this CD when it first came out and no matter how many times I listen to it, I just can't get into it. Nothing about Banks' style really grabs me. His rhymes are pretty basic, he sounds like he's half asleep when he raps (not much energy at all) and he doesn't bring anything new to the hip-hop industry. Money, cars, jewlery, girls. Been there, done that. Too bad, because the guy has potential Hopefully, his next album will be better. I won't buy it though; I'll just download it.
The reason I gave this 2 stars is because there are some decent tracks, like...
On Fire
Karma
Warrior
Warrior Part 2
If You So Gangsta
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