S. Samuel
G-Unit member Lloyd Banks has revealed the two rap newcomers currently under his radar and what it takes to maintain relevance in today's hip-hop game.
Banks also explained the impact Internet promotion has had on artists.
“There’s a lot of new artists out there,” Banks said in an interview. “Wiz Khalifa, I like what he’s doing. He’s consistent, he’s putting out a lot of material. J. Cole is dope, I was just listening to a new record he put out yesterday and he’s a producer too so he’s putting the beats together. He’s already got a one up and he didn’t even drop his first album yet. Currensy. He’s not new but I look at consistency because it doesn’t matter when you come in the game. Some artists, you can come in the game and sell five million records. I respect longevity and consistency because some things you could just be blind to. You can cut the Internet on and keep seeing this name and seeing this name but be blind to it and don’t acknowledge until it blew out the pocket already. But it’s OK, I think that’s the science. We’re in a time where you control TV. Back in the days, you would spend half a million dollars on a video because it had to get seen if you watched this program whether it be MTV, BET. Nowadays, it’s not like that. It’s on demand. So you can pay that same tab for that video and nobody click on it. So the key is to have a lot of videos out so eventually somebody clicks on and once they do, you have an archive of 30 more freestyles that’ll come up. I put out five mixtapes within a year that some people who heard ‘Beamer, Benz or Bentley’ have never heard. And that’s the reason for going back and shooting viral and take it from 50,000 views or 70,000 views to 300,000 and 400,000 views because people are watching it at the same time they’re hearing it.” (Rap-Up)
In late July, Wiz announced a record deal with Atlantic Records.
“Yeah, I’m signing to Atlantic,” Khalifa said. “We’ve been working on it for a minute. I wanted to make sure that I had records that I was comfortable with before I went to any label or any situation. I wanted to make sure I had my direction so when I take it to them it’s like, ‘Let’s go.’ … It’s a huge honor for [Rick Ross] to even extend a hand like that. [It’s] crazy for him to even look out like that. Me and Ross is always gonna be working. He sees my vision. I think he gets what I’m trying to do. Even if it ain’t no paperwork between me and Ross, it’s gonna be work done between me and Ross.” (MTV)
Recently, J. Cole said he was not worried about the first-week numbers of his upcoming Roc Nation debut album.
“Nah, they’re not the same. I don’t have a fear of not delivering, I know I’m going to deliver, and I don’t have a fear of sales because – I wouldn’t call it a fear of sales because I don’t place that much emphasis on the sales, but I definitely have an excitement over the sales. I want to sell a godrillion. But I’m not scared I’m going sell 10,000 records. I’m not afraid of that.” (I Luv Lola)
During the summer, Cole said he was not yet ready to reveal his album’s title.
“We had an October 26th release date — but it’s feeling more like November, December,” Cole told rapper/radio host Nelly. “I ain’t put the title out yet, I’m real secretive on my titles. I want it to come out a certain way. It’s sounding incredible…I just did the song that I’m going to put Jay on. That’s going to be the only feature. I might get one more special, special guest. I feel it’s something special to come out and not have the whole album with a feature. I’m gonna try to keep it feature-free.” (Hot 104.1)
Check out Lloyd Banks’ interview below:
