He followed it two years later with Rotten Apple. Banks' long-awaited solo debut for G-Unit/Interscope Records, The Hunger for More, was released in June 2004. November of that same year saw the release of G-Unit's Beg for Mercy. Banks stayed on with 50 Cent, appearing on the artist's now-classic 2003 debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. He dropped out of high school at the age of 16, finding the structured environment a hindrance to his developing talent for rhyming.Īfter appearing on numerous local mixtapes, Banks, along with childhood friends Tony Yayo and 50 Cent, formed a crew called G-Unit, a group that proceeded to redefine the term 'street marketing' with a series of self-released albums that included original numbers and quality artwork. Like many young men growing up in the poverty and ruin of his community, he found solace through ghetto poetry and the work of rappers like Big Daddy Kane and Slick Rick. After a string of high-profile releases, Banks focused on mixtapes and stand-alone tracks for most of the 2010s, and parted ways with G-Unit before issuing fourth studio album The Course of the Inevitable in 2021.īanks was born Christopher Lloyd and was raised in Jamaica, Queens, by his Puerto Rican mother his father spent much of his son's childhood behind bars. Along with other G-Unit cohorts, Banks enjoyed charting hits and platinum album sales, both as a part of the crew and with solo albums like his 2004 debut, The Hunger for More.

Queens emcee and G-Unit co-founder Lloyd Banks was part of the wave of rappers who found mainstream success with hard-nosed, street-ready rap styles in the early 2000s.

Lloyd banks album sales