Rapper Lloyd Banks is scheduled to appear at Quinnipiac this Friday during May Weekend’s annual concert event. Banks is the youngest member of the rap group G-Unit, which also includes 50 Cent, the popular rapper who doubles as Famington’s newest neighbor. Clipse, the hip-hop duo from Virginia, will provide opening support for Banks.
“SPB chose Lloyd Banks, because in our beginning of the year survey [of student preferences] rap did very well overall,” Anthony Vindigni, the Student Programming Board’s concert chair, said. “Overall I have heard more people say that even if it’s not their taste of music that it will make a lot of people happy and I am expecting a very good crowd of people.”
Banks recently released his Interscope-backed album titled “The Hunger for More,” which illustrates to listeners his life ambitions. “When I say The Hunger for More, it could be referring to more success. It could be more money or respect, more power, more understanding. All those things lead up to that hunger for more, because my ‘more’ isn’t everybody else’s ‘more,'” Banks said in an interview on his Web site.
Growing up in Jamaica, Queens, Banks got his musical start after dropping out of high school at age 16 and appearing on a number of local mix tapes. Along with childhood friends 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, they formed the ruthless group G-Unit.
According to his Web site, “G-Unit quickly redefined the urban music industry. They produced a series of street albums with original numbers and high quality artwork, making the discs something more than a bootleg, but not quite an independent release.”
Through his successes as a member of G-Unit, Banks has been able to travel the globe multiple times. His solo debut came after he was appointed 2003’s Mix Tape Artist of the Year due to his appearance on G-Unit mix tapes as well as his own “Money in the Bank” series. Material from his solo debut, “The Hunger for More,” is now part of his touring set list. Banks is working twice as hard and still hungry.
Banks joins the long list of notable artists and performers to step onto the May Weekend stage, including Dane Cook, Guster and Wyclef Jean.
After his Quinnipiac tour stop, Banks will continue to tour the college circuit. He returns to the area May 7 for a performance at Willimantic’s The Sport Center.
