Lloyd Banks has revealed he once scrapped a trap mixtape he was working on with DJ Drama following disparaging comments Trinidad James made about New York Hop Hop.
Speaking on the Joe Budden Podcast, the former G-Unit rapper looked back on the creative trajectory of his career and revisited a particular moment in 2013 when he opted to switch up his style, which came about around the same time the “All Gold Everything” hitmaker said that the South ran New York musically.
“I really got into that mode where I wanted to make really powerful music,” Banks told Budden and his co-hosts, referring to part of what made him want to switch his rap style, before moving on to Trinidad James.
“Not to blame it on him, but he was the tail end of what kinda pissed me off,” he explained. “There was a point in New York where they were saying New York radio didn’t sound like New York, right? Like all the way. And Trinidad James had did some type of show, and he was on the stage saying how he was in New York and it didn’t sound like New York, and I’m like, ‘Wow.’ This was shit you would hear behind closed doors, but this n-gga said it publicly.”
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Banks went on to explain that his first AON (All Or Nothing) mixtape with Drama was supposed to be a trap project, but James’ comments made him scrap the idea.
“At the point I was working on my first installment with DJ Drama, AON. So this goes back to answer your question about why I changed,” Banks explained. “[Trinidad James] said, ‘You New Yorkers don’t even sound like New York rappers no more. At that point, I had 18 songs doing my personal rendition of what a trap song would be at that time. Right? ‘Cause when I’m thinking Gangsta Grillz, I’m thinking this is what you supposed to do.”
“That was the last draw for me so I scrapped the whole project … [I had] records with everybody, from, you know, [Lil] Durk, Yo Gotti, whoever was hot.”
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Check out Banks comments below around the 2:39:25 mark:
Trinidad James’ comments about New York Hip Hop came during a Converse Rubber Tracks concert in New York City in November 2013.
“I remember when New York ran this shit, dog,” he told the crowd. “When Dipset was fuckin’ turned the fuck up. Oh my God. I gotta wear my bandana on tilt like Juelz. What the fuck happened, dog? What happened? I remember when New York rap was the shit. And us in the South, us bammas, we was like ‘what the fuck’ and we just did our own thing. But now we run y’all musically. That’s crazy. That’s crazy. That’s crazy, my n-gga. That’s crazy.
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“I’m not trying to start nothing, but if you want to do something we can do something ’cause I don’t give a fuck. I looked up to New York music. And now every n-gga that’s really poppin’ out of New York, you might as well tell they from Atlanta. ‘He from Atlanta. He from Atlanta. He from Atlanta.’ I’m just putting it out there. Y’all got more bloggers—y’all got n-ggas interviewing more popular than n-ggas that’s rapping.”
Lloyd Banks Credits 50 Cent For Improving His Craft: 'He Was An Exceptional Songwriter'
Meanwhile, during another interview, Lloyd Banks — who released his latest album, The Course Of The Inevitable 2 on Friday (July 15) — opened up about his healthy relationship with 50 Cent, revealing that Fif gave him some words of motivation during their last conversation.
“We’re brothers,” Banks told GQ about his and 50’s relationship. “We came into this together—we’re never all going to be doing the same thing at the same time at this point in our careers. You know what I mean? The last conversation I had with 50 was basically him telling me to get whatever I left out there. Because some hiatuses were planned and some weren’t.”
