A little over 2 years since Bank$ dropped his solo debut, he's back with an album slightly worse than his "Hunger For More". With 16 songs you get to hear a god deal of Banks, of the 16, 1 is almost a classic, 8 or 9 are good, and the other 6 or 7 are average songs. Guests are rapping on 6 sogns and do the hook on another 4, so you only get 6 solo's with no guest appearances. Production is decent, not as good as I'd have thought looking at some of the people who did production, and handled by a lot of different people. Eminem & Ron Browz do 2 songs each, and 10, Midi Mafia, Pitch Black Music, Younglord, Dave Morris, RJ Rice, Havoc, Major Music, Needlz, Nick Speed, Black Flag, and 9th Wonder all do 1 track. For fans of Banks or G--Unit I'd recommend this but the Unit has put out better material.

#1 - 8.5 (f/ 50 Cent & Prodigy of Mobb Deep)
#2 - 9
#3 - 8
#4 - 6.5 (f/ 50 Cent)
#5 - 8.5 (nice beat)
#6 - 8.5 (f/ 50 Cent -- upbeat track)
#7 - 8.5 (f/ Keri Hilson)
#8 - 7.5 (f/ Musiq)
#9 - 9 (nice beat -- f/ Rakim)
#10 - 7.5 (f/ Prodigy of Mobb Deep)
#11 - 7 (hook is annoying)
#12 - 7.5
#13 - 6.5 (f/ Tony Ya Yo)
#14 - 8 (f/ Keon Bryce)
#15 - 6.5 (f/ Young Buck, Eightball, and Scarface)
#16 - 9.5 (tight beat -- best song on here)

Christopher Lloyd -- b. 4/30/82 -- Jamaica, Queens, NY
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I was very excited and highly anticipating Lloyd Bank's sophomore effort. I was expecting double what he gave us on Hunger For More, but was sadly mistaking. Mr. Punchline provides very little punchlines in this album. If you actually listened to Hunger For More, even if the beat lacked Lloyd had enough heat behind the mic to make it a hot track anyway. In fact, this doesn't even sound like Lloyd Banks. I've listened to this CD over and over trying to force myself to like it, but this album isn't nowhere close to as good as Hunger For More! What happened to the Punchlines? The title track is decent along with You Know The Deal and Get Clapped. Cake is alright and Iceman is a good track thanks to Young Buck. Maybe my expectations were too high but this is a weak second effort by Lloyd Banks.

Of the slew of rappers in music, Lloyd Banks has always stood out to me. This is ironic because I have heard his music on the radio and television, but never listened to any of his albums entirely. So, why does he stand out? He's cute in a strange way and I like his voice. Also, although he's apart of G-Unit, he seems to be more mature than most of the other members of that group of males. I picked "Rotten Apple" up because I saw him on 106 & Park talking about it. After listening to it, I'm disappointed. I was expecting music that I could add to my iPod and jam to, but, sadly, I found none. There are several decent songs here, but that is all you are going to find. Banks doesn't rap quickly, he raps in a laid back manner. The lyrics are ok, but he said nothing that has stuck with me. The production, for the most part, is the typical G-Unit sound. Slower numbers, mid-tempos and up-beats are all found here, and there are one or two good beats, but again, that's all. The guest appearances are good. I enjoyed them.

Lloyd Banks usually delivers his songs in the same way, and that sent me into a slight state of boredom as I was listening to "Rotten Apple." However, in the chorus of "Stranger", Banks is rapping in a very low tone; I like that namely because it was a change of pace for him. As a whole, "Stranger" is a pretty weak offering with its dry production and average lyrics. His delivery on "Survival" is nice. The first few songs on the album set the tone for the entire record and this is a decent song. Musiq offers his talents on "Addicted", which is one of the best numbers here. Banks's delivery and lyrics are good as so is the beat.

I still like Lloyd Banks. He has improvement written all over him. All that is left for him to do is...improve. Recommended to G-Unit supporters.

Mikeisha's Top 5

1. "Addicted"
2. "Survival"
3. "Cake"
4. "Help"
5. "NY NY"

Don't get me wrong, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck are some of the tightest in the game. But, the production on here is awful. I'm glad I listened to this CD before I thought of going to buy it. Sorry, no purchase from me. G-Unit, knows that Banks and Buck can flow to any music, but the music here on this CD sucks. It sounds like a five year old did the beats. Em, can't do bests like Dre, Tim, and Jazze. Next seek their services.

Lloyd Banks delivers in this album.
He has alot of up speed tracks which is great for a good rush of energy.
It comes close to his first album, The Hunger For More, but this is still up high.
I was waiting for this album in the 4th quarter.
I mark this off, next up is The Doctor's Advocate and Hip-Hop Is Dead.