Lloyd Banks talks G-Unit's influence on Hip Hop

By The Hip Hop Writer
Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer

The days of G-Unit dominating the radio may be over, but the crews who have come out since are still following the model they set. When 50 Cent was blackballed by the industry, he began releasing several mixtapes. Along with the mixtapes, he reelased the Guess Who's Back? street album.

Eminem ended up with a copy of Guess Who's Back? and called Dr. Dre in to hear it. It was only a matter of days before they ended up signing 50 Cent. Through 50 Cent, Eminem and his mentor, Dr. Dre opened up new sources of income. Soon, the entire G-Unit label was added to the Interscope roster.

Nothing is built to last forever and the G-Unit empire seemingly crumbled. But, when people counted them out, Lloyd Banks hit the mixtape scene and re-established his buzz. This led to his 2010 summer hit, "Beamer, Benz, or Bentley." The song led 50 Cent to encourage Banks to record an album, which led to EMI Records offering G-Unit a new deal, thus leaving Interscope Records.

Citing two times the mixtape scene helped G-Unit Records, Lloyd Banks noted how other rappers hit the mixtape scene until they end up being signed. Lil Wayne followed this model in 2006 and has been rap's most dominating figure for nearly five years. The method works and it even gave life to Lloyd Banks' small comeback over the past year.