When Lloyd Banks' solo debut, The Hunger for More, dropped, it epitomized that era of rap as well as the political climate: it was nigh Republican in its financial thesis and economic boomtime in its frivolity (recall the hook, I'm so fly/ and that's a good enough reason/ to buy the things I buy). Banks was a hood Gordon Gecko, or more accurately a hood Goldman Sachs, accumulating things and items almost as though driven by tunnel vision, even more shrewdly than his mentor 50 Cent. (NOTE: That album also had like five or six songs that were straight fire, including "I'm So Fly.") Fast forward to The Hunger for More 2: on this first single, Banks has not toned down on the shopping spree (Gucci bubble boots/thousand kicks etc.) but his scratchy voice, now even more grizzled, sounds like this time around he's not quite as secure in his portfolio, plus Swizz Beats has dialed him back to "hood rich." Even G-Unit cannot escape the recession, perhaps, but once again it's a track with dollar signs in its eyes that is crazy en fuego. Meanwhile, forget Drake, Swizzy is the MVP of hooks this year, that motorcycle revving sound effect is classic (but should never be imitated by anyone else, please dear god, no "bong bong").
Download: Lloyd Banks f. Kanye West, Swizz Beats, Ryan Leslie & Fabolous, "Start it Up" (via Nah Right)
