Lloyd Banks, G-Unit, Jaz Kahina, and P.A.T

Banks was born on 30 April 1982 in New Carrolton, Maryland and was raised in Queens, New York. Along with his childhood friends, 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks formed the group G-Unit in 1999; and when 50 Cent was signed to Interscope Records, he hit a huge success allowing him to start his own label. This became the gateway for G-Unit’s success; however, while 50 Cent was establishing his career with Interscope, Banks remained in his neighborhood and performed locally to build up his buzz and fan base. By 2003 G-Unit recorded and released their first album, “Beg For Mercy” which went on to become certified platinum.

The following year, Lloyd Banks released his first solo album entitled “The Hunger For More” in June. The album debuted at Number One on the Billboard charts and sold over 500,000 copies in the first week; eventually, the album became certified platinum. Banks was slated to release his second album, “The Big Withdraw,” but due to a leak of the 23-track album, Banks went to work on “Rotten Apple.” The latter album went on to debut at Number Three and sell over 100,000 copies in its first week.

Unfortunately in 2009 Banks was dropped from Interscope Records, but remained with G-Unit Records. He released a mix tape in 2009 and in late 2010 he released a single, “Beamer, Benz Or Bentley,” that was to be the lead off for his new album. He then released “The Hunger For More” with the help of EMI Label Services.

G-Unit which is short for Guerrilla unit was formed by 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo who all grew up in the same neighbourhood rapping together. Due to the commercial successes 50 Cent received for his album 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin'' he was granted his own record and this lead on to the birth of G-Unit. The group released several mixtape series which earned them a lot of attention in the rap industry, even more so when they remixed 50 Cent's single 'P.I.M.P' and featured Snoop Dogg. Before the group had a chance to record its debut album, Tony Yayo was sentenced to prison for a gun-possession charge as well as bail-jumping. Whilst Tony Yayo was serving his prison sentence, 50 Cent signed Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck to G-Unit Records and subsequently added him to the group.

The debut album 'Beg For Mercy' was released in 2003 and production was handled by high-profile producers such as Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch, among several others whilst 50 Cent served as the album's executive producer. It charted at #3 on the US Billboard charts and has gone on to sell over two million copies meaning it is now certified double platinum. The second release 'Terminate On Sight' didn't perform as well commercially, Young Buck was forced to leave G-Unit after inter-group disputes with 50 Cent but still remained signed to G-Unit Records.

The future for G-Unit looked bleak in 2014, with long term member Tony Yayo claiming the group were no more and announcing his retirement in music. 50 Cent seemed to support these claims, saying in multiple that due to the recent inside-fighting, G-Unit is currently "dismantled." However, on June 1, 2014, G-Unit reunited at the 21st annual hip-hop fest Summer Jam with 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck, and G-Unit's newest member, Kidd Kidd. On August 25, 2014, G-Unit surprised fans with an extended play titled 'The Beauty of Independence'.