We’ve seen many weekly series come and go here at OTU, but it’s been a while since we’ve launched a new one, which frankly isn’t in keeping with our ‘we do things differently’ mantra.
That would be the marketing spin on this. The truth is, the thought occurred to me that as modern-day music listeners, we consume so much music on a daily and weekly basis that there have become two clear pools of choice when picking something to listen to: either a classic, old-school track or something relatively new. “What’s wrong with that?”, I hear you cry. “The vast middle in between those two”, I reply.
There are countless songs that lie in that grey area of being a little old, but nowhere near aged enough to be considered ‘classic’, and often they get overlooked. Several tracks may have been ‘ahead of their time’, and you’ll find them an almost brand new listen in today’s climate, or it may simply be revisiting an excellent track to recrete that ‘first time’ feel once again. Welcome to your friendly reminder of tracks we may have once loved (or even completely ignored), and enjoy the fresh yet familiar feeling that accompanies each one.
Hugely anticipated mixtape (who would have thought that phrase would be associated with Lloyd Banks a few years ago?), and I’m really looking forward to giving this a listen.
Banks has become one of the most consistent rappers in the game, and the quality of his material has been genuinely excellent. Shock The World was one of the first tracks released from this project and opened things with energy, whilst Make It Stack followed up with a more laidback style that remains extremely replayable. The latter now features a verse from A$AP Rocky, marking one of the Rocky’s bigger co-signs to date and adding an exciting new element to the track, whilst Prodigy and Styles P also hop along for a couple of features. Grab the entire 18-track mixtape for free below.
I’ve had Banks’ Shock The World in steady rotation since its release, and when popping up on a shuffle earlier, I had a moment not too dissimilar to this: Banks’ beat selection has been absolutely excellent for quite some time now, and with each track he releases the affinity for him as a solo artist grows into a real fandom.
Almost expectedly, the beat will engage you right from the off. A drifty, nimble melody opens over a quietened, threatening synth, and shortly after the track explodes into life with an upscaling of both elements thrown together with a luscious bass and sharp additional percussion. Lloyd’s raps are laidback and very easy-on-the-ear, fitting the mellow production exceptionally, whilst his echoed hook has a similar effect. The end result is a very replayable hip-hop effort that will be thoroughly enjoyed on those dark journeys back from work.
Bite your bottom lip, screw your nose up and nod your head. This is one of those Banks tracks.
Mr. Hit-and Miss himself, Swizz Beatz, seemingly helms this one (based entirely on his inclusion in the intro), and serves up a jaw-rattling, pounding production with sharp, distorted keys, crashing percussion and a healthy dose of bass, combining for one of his better beats in recent memory. Banks has released some of his finest material in the last 12-18 months, largely down to a renewed focus in his raps (and improved beat selection), evidenced once again here with an enjoyable set of bars that synergises with the superb production thanks to a well-chosen set of flows and accessible lyricism from start to finish. From Cold Corner 2, coming soon.
What a line up. Here’s DJ Suss One’s latest drop from his upcoming album, The Feature Presentation. Production on this is has that epic sound to it, which is perfect for Jada, Banks and Montana to flex their lyrical and bravado-filled muscles.
Not much else to talk about here, other than the seemingly pointless feature from Floyd Mayweather (just give us that super-fight we all want already!). It’s your standard decent posse cut right here, those who enjoy that sort of thing (like me) will enjoy it, those who don’t, won’t.
Secondly: Banks spits some bars on the excellent track Trouble On My Mind (originally by Pusha T & Tyler the Creator). Following from his Dreams Money Can Buy freestyle, Banks gives some solid content. To be honest though, if you even claim to be a decent emcee there isn’t a single excuse in the world for not being able to perform on an immaculate beat like this, and I hope this freestyle kicks off some more attempts from Lloyd Banks’ peers to hop on this track as this one is a little short for my liking.
It’s been very difficult to dislike Lloyd Banks over the last 18 months (not that I ever particularly did dislike him), as he’s really elevated his status with a slew of enjoyable remixes, freestyles and original material.
He’s been quiet in the last few months, but returns to the scene with this enjoyable freestyle over Drake’s memorable original. Banks brings some catchy rhyme schemes throughout, and keeps his content diverse with a couple of personal lines alongside the expected bragging raps, giving this short track a well-rounded feel, whilst revisiting this production gives it a welcome refresh, and a pleasing reminder of its quality. The sombre style works nicely alongside Banks’ naturally laidback tones, making for a good, easy-listening effort.
This picture represents Banks turning his back on what he’s good at: the mixtape scene. I’m talking specifically about cancelling his Cold Corner 2 project in favour of another subpar album. I know I’m a little late on this, but it’s hard scrutinizing every tweet of each emcee you follow. Trust me, I feel just as cheated as you. I had been ignoring the following four tracks as they dropped earlier (around April/May) this year as I often do with projects I want to keep fresh from start to finish. Anyway, Banks comes heavy on each joint as he always does with his mixtape material and recaptures that gritty sound which went a little missing on HFM2. Getting To It Mandatory is gutter.
The audio was released during Banks’ fantastic run of form towards the end of last year, and few would deny that this was comfortably one of the standout tracks of that hugely consistent period. A very well-rounded track, with strong verses from Banks, a soulful, mesmerising production and a worthwhile addition in Pusha T combining for a strong piece of hip-hop.
The video adds some decent imagery to accompany the audio, with dark, gritty scenery combined with flashes of grainy camera work to throw in an old-school vibe, enhancing that genuine hip-hop vibe emanating from this effort. Fairly simplistic, and rightfully so with the raw vibe of this track. Audio can be found on Banks’ Hunger For More 2 album, available on iTunes now.
This is a track that sounds exactly as you’d imagine to before feasting your ears upon it.
Two of New York’s best ‘gangsta’ spitters collaborating on a banging track. I don’t have much to add on that; consider it easy listening. Download below.
Yeah, we’re delayed again. You’re all pretty much used to it now though. When we hit that 100th episode, I may just have to rename this to something a little less ‘day specific’…
This surfaced back on Friday night…however I was fairly (very) intoxicated at the time and have been playing catchup ever since.
Young Chris flows along to some blasting production that will be appreciated by many a car speaker. It’s actually perfect production for a rapper like Lloyd Banks to feature on and it certainly enhances the quality of both of their verses. You don’t really need me to hype this up though as you know this is good if I’m bothering to post it 4 days late.
Following on from the UK Remix of Banks’ smash Start It Up Young Jeezy comes through and add a verse to another official remix.
As well as the Jeezy verse added to the beginning of the joint, which has to be said is fire, Banks has also laid down a different verse than his original which helps to freshen the whole thing up. The new Banks verse is much better than his previous effort, but with the time he’s had to come up with it, it should be. I’d actually say this is a far stronger version overall than the original, so if you liked that (who didn’t?!) make sure you grab this.
A little snippet of Bank’s giving props to Wiz Khalifa, J. Cole and Jay Electronica, as the artists he’s most looking forward to in 2011.
It’s nice to hear established artists such as Banks speaking on the new acts coming up, and actually giving them the credit they deserve. It was also interesting hearing how he was ahead of the game with J. Cole after hearing his stuff before he blew up. He raises an interesting point on Electronica’s flow as well, which I’d have to agree with. Unfortunately I have nothing to add on the New York Knicks, so I’ll just take his word on that situation.
As the end of year lists begin to pop up everywhere, it’s only right that we enter the fray. Murray, Indi, Liam and myself have put our heads together to compile a list of the very best acts in hip-hop this year, and come up with shortlist of who we feel stood up and really did something worthwhile this year. With the differing tastes and perspectives of four writers, you’ll definitely find some good talking points amongst the commentary we’ve offered on our selections, for better or worse (hopefully better!).
Click below to see who ranked at #15 all the way up to #4. The top 3 will be released shortly afterwards. Without further ado, let the mayhem begin!
Another great look for the UK hip-hop scene. Banks grabs two of the UK’s prominent rappers (and arguably the best one in Sway) for the official UK remix to his fantastic Start It Up.
Given that Banks’ verse is the same as that on the original, Sway definitely (and unsurprisingly) has the best verse of the two, coming through with some likeable lines and good diversity in his flow. Giggs’ contribution isn’t bad either, though if you’re not a fan of his slow style, you’re unlikely to change that opinion here as he comes through with the same deliberate delivery. Kanye’s verse is also left in for good measure, and this is definitely one to check out for fans of the original, and of course supporters of our UK scene.
Inspired by Complex Magazine’s excellent best 25 Lloyd Banks’ verses and on the back of the release of Banks’ heavily anticipated third LP, The Hunger For More 2, I’ve decided to take us back to a time when 50 Cent was merely an underground king and Banks, alongside Tony Yayo, his noble foot soldiers.
2002 was a busy year for 50 and his G-Unit imprint, with the release of now-classic mixtape 50 Cent Is The Future, compilation album Guess Who’s Back, today’s featured mixtape No Mercy, No Fear, before finishing the year with God’s Son and putting the final touches to his 2003 debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. But all this wouldn’t have been possible without the solid footing 50 had in the underground and the lyrical prowess of a certain 20-year old keen to follow in his mentor’s footsteps.
For some reason, the original to this track wasn’t posted on this site. I guess it got lost in the shuffle, but a chance to put that right has opened up with the official remix. Fellow Brooklynite Maino and Lloyd Banks, a man who has had a superb 2010, feature on this, with Banks in particular having a superb verse to this very pure and yet unusual production. You can listen to it here on the site and also download it below.
After dropping Banks’ final Blue Friday earlier, I decided to put together the ‘final mixtape’ which it would leave me with, having collected all the tracks since the series began. Being a stickler for the correct tracklisting I set about putting the individual drops in order when, to my horror, I realised I hadn’t got them all and that meant, neither had you. I haven’t found a complete summary collection of all BF’s anywhere on the Internet so consider this a gift to you, from me.
Hit the jump, recap and enjoy an excellent series.
Having obtained my copy of Banks’ Hunger For More 2, and now having received this joint for his Blue Fridays series, I am disappointed this didn’t make the cut.
For the beat, most blogs have been referencing Vado’s same-titled track but underground heads will recognize the simple, eerie keys from Rudy & Rhetoric’s Levitate back in 2008. The beat is fire regardless andBanks attacks the instrumental with his characteristic gruff vigor, proving he’s very much back to his best and one of the top emcees in the game right now. As this is the last Blue Friday and HFM2 hits stores in 3 days, let’s hope he doesn’t just disappear into oblivion for another 4 years…
Some more Lloyd Banks and more Eminem for you today! This leaked a few days back but with hideous dj tags that we all hate so much, so refrained on posting it. Now that the tagless CDQ has dropped, I’ll unleash it for you.
Set to be just an iTunes bonus track from Lloyd Banks upcoming Hunger For More 2 album, all I can really say is how good must that album be to just cast this aside as a bonus track!?
Typically anthem like, yet somehow understated, production from Canadian producer Boi-1da, with Eminem and Lloyd Banks giving us something pretty lyrical to cast our ears to.
New week, new Banks. Albeit a little later than his initially-intended Blue Fridays (For those of you who don’t know, today is Tuesday).
Banks has dropped so much strong material in lead up to his Hunger For More 2 (Nov 23rd) and this is another welcome addition in tact with pulsating baseline and tough-guy lyrics to match.
Here we have Lloyd Banks talking about his soon-to-be-released album The Hunger For More 2 album, how he came about working with Kanye West on Christian Dior Denim Flow (if you haven’t heard it already I highly recommend you do here) and Start It Up which can be found here , as well as his admiration for 50 Cent and the whole G-Unit movement.
A particular highlight for me is when he speaks about walking in the studio when both the aforementioned tracks were being recorded. If ever I could’ve been a fly on the wall in a studio that would’ve been it, the talent on show just sounds ridiculous. G-Unit to go down in hip-hop history though? I’m not too sure. One thing I am sure about though, HFM2 is going to be something special. Props to GWHH for the interview.
The second collaboration (first one is here) from two of the most famous Lloyd’s around, this one is set to feature on the upcoming Lloyd (not Banks) album, King of Hearts.
R&B Fridays fans will be familiar with Forever, with a version of the track originally leaking way back in March, and immediately establishing itself as some of his strongest material to date. The production has the atmospheric feel that suits Lloyd’s voice brilliantly, and his vocals are on top form as ever. Banks comes through with a short, sharp verse on this one, embellishing his rejuvenated reputation with a strong contribution. Great all-round R&B track.
Banks keeps churning them out for Blue Fridays and here’s another particularly impressive effort from the Boy Wonder.
I’m personally loving these weekly drops across the industry at the moment (shout out to Crooked I for starting that bandwagon) and it makes each artists’ music much more digestible than a 20 track, DJ-riddled mixtape which quite often ends up in my trash. Hell, I’m even enjoying Ye’s G.O.O.D. Fridays…
This Budden material just keeps on coming! This was probably the most anticipated track from MM4, and it’s as big a track as the lineup suggests.
J. Cardim serves up a solid hip-hop beat, full of thick percussion lines and unobtrustive melodic layers to allow the heavy-hitters on this track to bring their lyrics to the forefront. It’s a good move when the lineup is this good, and each rapper brings some good rhymes to the table. Royce definitely takes the victory here, coming through as aggressive as I’ve ever heard him, and with great content.
Some of these have sat in my inbox over the past few days, some have just hit the Internets today. The pick of the bunch has to be that 50/Jada collaboration; with the one time foes teaming up for some New York heat. I’ve also dropped the new Big L single from his upcoming posthumous Return Of The Devil’s Son, but not only are the vocals recycled (Danger Zone), but the beat isn’t original either (O.C. – Jewelz).
This always seems to be the case. The versions we originally get sound alright, so the audiophiles like myself get all annoyed when we have to (yes, have to!) replace the original with the mastered. Oh well. It does improve all three tracks though, especially the Budden and Banks tracks. Fact about the CRS track: Lupe revealed its a couple of years old.
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