Twenty-four-year-old Lloyd Banks, born and raised in Queens, New York, started writing street poetry and narratives in his early days. He later formed G Unit with childhood buddies Tony Yayo and 50 Cent. In 2004, he delivered his debut solo album, The Hunger For More – and sold 2 million copies worldwide. Rotten Apple, his follow-up album last October featuring hits like Cake and Hands Up, also sold an impressive 150,000 copies in the first week. Has fame at such a young age changed him?

“Everybody changes according to their situation. If you are poor, then you have poor people’s problems. If you are rich you still have your problems.” For Banks, in life problems never stop. Some artists may become a different person when stardom hits them, but that is not the case for this rapper. He still visits the neighbourhood he grew up in: “I have adapted to it as I have been in the industry for five years. When I decided to get into music, I knew what would come when I became popular.” In fact one of the reasons he makes music is to give outsiders a better understanding of the background he comes from. Yet the music industry doesn’t always work for him. “When you enter the industry a lot of people, from DJs to the media, can affect how far your career goes,” he says. “I feel like my career is sometimes in somebody else’s hands.”

Nevertheless, having toured with superstars like Eminem and 50 Cent in the last few years, the confident rapper is looking positively at the upcoming show at the Asia World Expo Arena. “I am expecting a good response, as my record has come out and more and more people will know about my music,” he says. Talking about gigs, in all his travels across the US and Canada, does one stand out from all the others? “I have done over 300 shows on my own, and even more with the whole G-Unit crew so it is difficult to pick one. But every time I go to another country, the energy is always a little bit higher because [the audience] don’t know when they are going to see me again.”

Being a hip-hop artist doesn’t mean you have to be outrageous or rebellious all the time. Banks hopes to make tunes people can enjoy in every situation, whether they are unhappy or having fun in a club. “I am not trying to save the world or anything. I am trying to make a mark, so people will respect me for what I do.”
Lloyd Banks will be playing at the Asia World Expo-Arena on February 10 at 8:30pm. Tickets from $300-$880 are available from HK Ticketing.