Lloyd Banks released his anticipated mixtape, V6, last week, proving once again that he can hold his own solo. Although the G-Unit member has reportedly not spoken to 50 Cent in almost a year, it seems he doesn't need too. This last release was stronger than Fif's previous release.
This is Banks' second project in the past eight months, following Cold Corner 2 in November, which was an extremely solid tape, just like V6. Similarly to Cold Corner 2, the tracks on V6 all flow well together and have a comparable sound, but that's nothing to be mad at. The production is key here, so that the tape has a consistent sound, but doesn't become repetitive and boring-- a feat accomplished on V6 and Cold Corner 2.
Lloyd Banks' "V6"">The tape starts off with “Intro/Rise From The Dirt,” featuring a strong vocal sample, and Banks' spitting some mono-syllablic verses about crime, life, and rising to fame. Those are the general topics Banks' gives us on this tape: crime, life, and the benefits of fame. He can ball and also remain street, he uses this to his advantage on V6.
“City of Sin” is laced with organ keys and features a forgettable verse from Young Chris, but the beat is dope, and the PLK goes in from the start. He gives us a nice hook about drinking your troubles away/rolling your troubles away, something we're all familiar with.
The tape continues with plenty of spacey, static-like beats that work well with Banks' signature raspy voice. “Open Arms” is a perfect example of this. “We Run The Town” gives us a harder beat from Automatic, and a feature from Vado. The song is aptly titled as it finds New York rapper boasting about running his home town.
“Bring It Back” is definitely one of the stand-out cuts on V6. Fabolous and Banks both kill a dope beat from A6, followed closely after by another stand-out, “Gettin' By,” with a rambuncious ScHoolboy Q.
From there we get “Live It Up,” with Banks referencing his debut album Hunger For More, reminding us he still has that “hunger for more.” It sounds that way too, Banks is believable and he has a consistent energy throughout the tape. Getting to the end of the fifteen-track freelease is “Hate You More,” a kind of reverse-love-song. The Punch-Line King spits not about his love for a girl, but about his hatred for her, and wanting to break up with her. It's refreshing to hear in a weird relatable way, with the Jerm providing an ethereal backdrop of synth and keys.
V6 is a cohesive unit of songs that you can listen to from start to finish. No need to skip a track on this tape. Although one might except more variety on an album, for a tape, this is above and beyond, especially production-wise. Now we just need to get a new album from the PLK!
Stream and/or download Lloyd Banks' V6 below.