S. Samuel
G-Unit member Lloyd Banks has named his favorite hip-hop instrumentals and why the classic 1990's "Shook Ones" is the best beat ever.
Within his list, Banks named Jay-Z‘s “Lyrical Exercise” from the 2001 album Blueprint as one of his favorites.
“Another question I got for the Banks blog is what are some of my favorite beats to rap to,” Banks said in his video blog. “I gotta say ‘Lyrical Exercise,’ that was crazy to me. I did it two or three times, another beat was one of Cam’ron‘s beats. The joint where we did, ‘G-Unit Soldiers,’ I had to rap over that like three times. It’s just certain beats I can never get tired of. As long as you throw it on, I’m going to want to rap to it. Most of it is on the old instrumental CDs. ‘Quiet Storm’ is another one — ‘Shook Ones’ has gotta be the all-time best beat to rap over, hip-hop-wise. If you can’t do your thing over that, then just kill yourself.” (XXL Mag)
Last month, the “Punch Line King” revealed his favorite rapper and dance song of all-time.
WHO’S YOUR FAVORITE RAPPER OF ALL TIME? Lloyd Banks: Biggie Smalls. WHAT’S YOUR DRINK OF CHOICE? Lloyd Banks: Hawaiian Punch. I got about eight gallons in my refrigerator right now. WHO’S THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? Lloyd Banks: At times I think it’s me. But I would say my grandma. WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE DANCE SONG? Lloyd Banks: Uncle Luke, “Doo Doo Brown.” That was crazy in school because you didn’t have to know how to dance. (Complex)
Along with The Notorious B.I.G., Banks recently revealed four of his other favorite rappers.
“My top five rappers of all-time, definitely Biggie Smalls,” Banks revealed in an interview. “Tupac [Shakur], of course, Big Daddy Kane, Rakim and, those are all before my era. I would have to throw me up in there somewhere, for my era. Speaking for my era, I would have to throw me up in there. I’m like a mixture of all those, I’m a product of all those guys put together.” (Real Talk New York)
Aside from artists, Banks recently discussed which one of his freestyles had the biggest effect on his life.
“[‘Victory’] has to be overall the most–the biggest freestyle I had as far as impact wise. Even DJ Clue will tell you that’s when he felt I went from being a mixtape dude to the next dude they expect to pop from the mixtapes…It wasn’t recorded in a million dollar studio, but the line was clever because of what I was doing at the time. At that time, I was recording the mixtape material in Sha Money‘s basement, but we were flying back and forth to L.A. to Dre‘s studio. So, I was in Em, Dre studio with that mentality, bringing that back to Sha Money’s studio. Honestly, I knew what I was following behind. Biggie was one of my favorites. When I did ‘Victory’, everybody knew that was one of his biggest verses. So to fall behind him, I knew there was pressure behind it. I just wanted to add a different feel. At that time, I was thinking punchline wise.” (Rap Radar)
Check out Lloyd Banks’ video below:
