Terminate On Sight. Is it pretty much an extension of ‘Beg For Mercy,’ or did you guys try something different?
Lloyd Banks: Well on the first album, for the most part it was me 50 [Cent], and [Young] Buck; and on this one it’s me 50 [Cent] and [Tony] Yayo. But the music is mostly in the same vein, because we’re from New York City, and you know how the Hip-Hop scene is out here. It’s really aggressive and competitive in that nature. The records just stand out a part from each other a lot more on this album; each song is so different. Music marks time, and people remember that. Just like on the first album, you had ‘Poppin Them Thangs’ and the average artist wasn’t doing songs like that at that point in their career. And that’s what we’re doing again this time around. We got ‘Rider pt. 2’ and records like ‘No Days Off’ and those records are going to come off really hard.
A lot of people have talked about previous G-Unit projects not performing up to the usual standards, did that put any added pressure on you guys for this album?
Lloyd Banks: There’s pressure every time to be honest with you. Every album has its own, and there are three of us working on a project. The only pressure was probably putting the album together, and that’s no pressure for us. We make records at a very-very fast pace, and that’s never a problem. It’s all about executing and having everyone on the same page as far as the record label goes, how it’s marketed, and things of that nature. But as far as the music goes—its second nature.
Tony Yayo: Nah man there’s no pressure. People forget that we started this mixtape game to what it is now. We always do mixtapes in song formats, and we were the first n*ggas coming out with guns on DVDs. That’s a true story, and now you got everyone else doing it. It is what it is, I’m not mad at [you] if you use that format, because it worked for us. Look at our mixtape game now, right now we got Elephant In The Sand out and Body Snatchers pt. 2 and those mixtapes sound like n*gga’s albums. Right now there’s a change in Hip-Hop and [Lloyd] Banks always tells me that.
Think about it: It was in New York at a point with Big L, Big Pun, and Biggie know what I’m saying? Then it went over to the West Coast with Tupac, Snoop [Dogg], and [Dr.] Dre, and then it was in the South. It just goes from place to place; it might be out in Chicago at one point or whatever but it’s always going to come back to New York City because these are the roots of what made Hip-Hop. After a while the people want to hear something different, they don’t want to hear all that snapping and popping, you know?
Even though this is only your second album, you guys have an endless catalog of mixtapes. How important is it for you guys to stay consistent on the mixtape circuit and not fall back from that situation?
Tony Yayo: Oh, [Lloyd] Banks is the mixtape king…
Lloyd Banks: I never want to fall back from that situation. The bigger you get as an artist, the bigger your conversations get. After you sell a certain amount of records, you start meeting different people, and people pay more attention to you, and they sell you big-ass dreams about where they can see you going. But you can’t fault artists for wanting to be the biggest; you know what I’m saying? Everything happens for a reason, and I feel like the mixtapes are going to come back around full circle.This is what gave us an opportunity to actually make it to begin with. The streets were calling up the radio and demanding freestyles that they heard on the streets, and they want to hear it on the radio.
So with that in mind, you can’t be mad at the streets. It starts in your own neighborhood. You get your homies as your support team in your neighborhood, and then neighborhood gets the city, and then the city gets the state, and next thing you know; you’re in somebody else’s state. So just following the formula is evident that it works, and the people decide what’s going on.
I heard 50 [Cent] say in an interview one time that if his personal project doesn’t do well, then it’s right back in the studio immediately. Is that the same feeling for this album?
Tony Yayo: You know, its amazing that 50 [Cent] can sell an album that’s three million worldwide, and then say that it’s a dud. It’s just amazing when you can do that, you know what I’m saying? As for G-Unit, our standards are high when it comes to me, [Lloyd] Banks, and 50 [Cent]. While other n*ggas is resting, we’re working. I bet you he’s in the studio right now, just like me and [Lloyd] Banks, or he’s on the set doing a movie. We was working last night, and we’re working now, so it’s just a work process. We work harder than these n*ggas.
So what would you say is the difference between the mixtapes that you guys put out and ‘Terminate On Sight’?
Tony Yayo: Well I would say the difference is that you can’t have a beat by Swizz Beatz on a mixtape…
Lloyd Banks: [Laughing]…
Tony Yayo: [Laughing]… We got Swizz Beatz on there, and that’s our first time working with him. We have Polow da Don, and we got flamers with them. There’s not too much of a difference, because some of the stuff we should’ve put on the mixtape, we put on the album because we was like, “Yo this sh*t is hot!” “This got to go on the album!” So the difference is that it’s more polished than a mixtape, you know what I’m saying?
Is there any meaning behind the title?
Tony Yayo: Terminate On Sight you know? It’s the sequel; you know what I mean? At first we had ‘Shoot To Kill,’ but that was too crazy, you know what I mean?
What was the creative process like during the making of the album? Was everybody agreeing on what was going on?
Lloyd Banks: It was a collective effort, and at the same time we all have studios in the comfort of our own homes, so we never stopped recording. A lot of time its like, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” so a lot of the records that were coming to the table were already prepared. The bulk of the album was already done with all of us there, and that’s all easy. I get in the booth, then [Tony] Yayo goes and in the booth, and then 50 [Cent] So it just goes on like that until we’re done for the rest of the night…
Tony Yayo: Let me tell you something: This guy [Lloyd] Banks’ pen game is—I have spurts when I write I have to be in the mood, that’s just me. But this guy [Lloyd] Banks writes everyday. 50 [Cent] has spurts too, where he can write six records at a point to where he’s hot, and then he might chill for a second. But [Lloyd] Banks has the lyrical capability to write everyday. So when I’m in that room with these two n*ggas, I’m in competition with them! I don’t give a f*ck about nobody else. I’m in competition with them two n*ggas, and this album right here was a competition. To me it felt like, “OH MY GOD!” “DID YOU HEAR WHAT HE SAID?!” [Laughing]…
Lloyd Banks: [Laughing]…
Tony Yayo: So now I gotta go in there and do something crazy! And this is what I’m telling you! This is a competition! Every time I go in the booth and say some sh*t, [Lloyd] Banks will be like, “Ah he said some sh*t!”
Lloyd Banks: Hell yeah…
Tony Yayo: You know what I’m saying? There’s never a f*ckin’ dull moment. [Lloyd] Banks will say some sh*t, and you know what he’ll do next?
What’s that?
Tony Yayo: He’ll just ride the sh*t out the beat! He’ll ride that sh*t like a Lamborghini homie!
Lloyd Banks: [Laughing]…
Tony Yayo: [Lloyd] Banks has that lyrical capability, and that’s why he’s one of Eminem’s favorites.
Lloyd Banks: [Laughing]…
Tony Yayo: Come on [Lloyd] Banks, I’m gonna keep it real with you, you’re one of Eminem’s favorites from my eyes, you know? Out of me, [Lloyd] Banks, and [Young] Buck; [Lloyd] Banks was always Eminem’s favorite. Because they both have that lyrical capability to just get on a beat, and ride it out. On ‘Rider pt. 2,’ you rode the SH*T out that beat!
Lloyd Banks: Yeah, that record is bananas…
Tony Yayo: OH MY GOD! So I already know what it is, it’s going to go back to all that lyrical content. Even when you saw that Top Ten MC thing on MTV, they said lyrics are longevity. I realize that every single last lyric counts, and I’m to the point where I know I got better because I’m in competition with these n*ggas. Even Fif! Fif said some sh*t!
Lloyd Banks: Yeah, his sh*t is crazy…
Tony Yayo: A lot of the sh*t he said on the album sounds like the old 50 [Cent]. It wasn’t the new 50 [Cent]; it was the old 50 [Cent]. So we went back to that man.
Do you ever talk to him about going back to the “Old 50”?
Tony Yayo: Well when we’re in competition, he might come in when we’re dropping verses, and he’ll be like “WHOA” Because that’s just how he is. He’ll listen to our verses, and be like, “Yo this sh*t is crack, I’m gonna f*ck with that!” On this project, me and [Lloyd] Banks did a lot of A&R work. [Lloyd] Banks came with a record called ‘No Days Off’ and I came with a couple of joints that are incredible. [Lloyd] Banks is the lyrical assassin, Fif is the ultimate hit maker, and I’m the person that brings you the energy and the raw. That’s what people love from me, I spit my energy, and that’s what they hear from me all the time; you know what I’m saying?
Is Young Buck still going to do the promo tours and appear in the videos with you guys?
Tony Yayo: Nah, [Young] Buck is not going to have the advantage to do all of that, and its sad to say. That’s really on him, that’s what he chose to do. I don’t want anybody to ever think of us as the bad guys, because it’s nothing like that. [Young] Buck was on the cover of XXL with us, and then he chose to separate himself and do stuff with Game, and I could never understand that. Because once a man tells me to suck his d*ck and calls me a fag, we’re enemies forever mothaf*cka.
Has any of that stuff been a distraction for you guys?
Tony Yayo: Oh no! That hasn’t been a distraction.
Lloyd Banks: NO WAY!
Tony Yayo: I’m telling you! One monkey don’t stop the show, and that’s just how it is man. There’s no business like show business, and I’m just glad that I got a couple of friends in this mothaf*cka, in terms of [Lloyd] Banks and 50 [Cent].[Young] Buck, I considered him a friend too, but once you start sleeping with the enemy, I can’t f*ck with you. Because if [Lloyd] Banks don’t like a n*gga, then I fall back from that n*gga, and this sh*t happens in the ‘hood too. It don’t got to be rap sh*t, we can be talking about regular ‘hood sh*t. There are n*ggas in the ‘hood [Lloyd] Banks don’t like, and I don’t f*ck with them. You don’t even have to say anything, “Oh you don’t f*ck with that n*gga?” “Then I’m not gonna f*ck with that n*gga.” You won’t see that n*gga around me no more…
Lloyd Banks: Word…
Tony Yayo: You understand what I’m saying? That’s just some ‘hood sh*t! That’s just how it is in the ‘hood. I mean; come on man, you broke bread with us—you understand what I’m saying? When you was running with Juvenile, that UTP buzz didn’t launch off how the G-Unit buzz did. No disrespect to Juvenile or UTP, but that’s why you left Juvenile to come with us because n*ggas was so hot. When n*ggas put you in a position to get money—you got a nice big house in Tennessee, your mother has a house, you got condos, and all types of cars. Whatever you do with your money is on you.
That whole thing about money—I don’t worry about how much money 50 [Cent] got [Young] Buck, or [Lloyd] Banks. We all have our own separate accounts, [Laughs] and our own separate accountants. We all talk to our own accountants, and if you f*ck up your money that’s on you. But I don’t understand it; you know what I’m saying? My whole thing is: What happened to loyalty? Because I damn sure know none of us is broke. So when you talk about all this royalty sh*t to the public, it upsets me because it makes it look like me, [Lloyd] Banks, and 50 [Cent] grew up together and we’re treating you like an outsider. Nobody ever treated you like an outsider, we treated you like fam.
Sometimes I think this industry sh*t and the media gets to n*ggas, like the fast cars and the drugs. They get to n*ggas, and they start bugging out. It is what it is, and I still don’t even understand the Game situation, but we don’t like talking about it, because that’s the only time he gets publicity, is from us. So right now it’s starting to feel like it’s planned out. “I’m gonna start f*ckin’ with these n*ggas, so I can get some publicity off it.” The most media Game ever got was going against 50 [Cent], so its starting to feel like a mothaf*ckin’ pattern. Even with the whole Rocsi thing, you know what I’m saying?
So why do you think there’s so much hate and animosity towards the G-Unit Camp?
Tony Yayo: We’re the most hated because n*ggas ain’t changed man. We established our success without using anybody. Yo [Lloyd] Banks, how many features did you have on your Hunger For More album?
Lloyd Banks: Like three…
Tony Yayo: Yeah! And everything else was in camp. And this n*gga sold three million records, did y’all forget? Worldwide. That was his debut album. I sold 800,000 albums wiping my ass on the toilet, because I was on house arrest. So when people are like, “Yo, your album did okay, you sold 800,000” I did it wiping my ass in my mansion because I couldn’t do any promo, you understand what I’m saying? So it is what it is, we’re the most hated because we’re the most successful; and the fact that we got so successful in a short period of time. Look at Eminem: He sold 16 million records! Come on man. [Laughs] They just look at us, and how we keep winning, and then here comes the resistance.
A lot of people refer to you as bullies who intentionally start feuds to fuel your own movement. Are they right or wrong?
Lloyd Banks: I know for one, when I made the choice to be an artist/entertainer/public figure, I wasn’t in denial, and I knew what the even trade was; that you become public property. I’m not bothered by what people say. 50 [Cent] always told me you can’t live your life based on what other people say or think of you. But as far as the bully part goes; it just like when you were a kid. If you’re a kid, and you hit another kid, and then he hits you in the face with a stickball bat, he’s then considered someone not to mess with, and that’s what happens with the Unit.
Every time someone does something, they’re going to get their hand smacked. It’s not like we go around picking on people, if starts then there’s going to be a problem. But I don’t think the industry is to blame for that at this time, because everyone is on some ‘We Are The World’ sh*t and it’s like 7-8 n*ggas on a record together every other week.
Tony Yayo: Can I ask you a question?
Go ahead [Tony] Yayo…
Tony Yayo: What beef did we start? Name a couple of beefs that we started?
I can’t think of one off the top of my head… [Laughs]
Tony Yayo: Did we start the Game sh*t? 50 [Cent] wrote six records for him…
Lloyd Banks: We don’t start the beef we just finish it…
Tony Yayo: 50 [Cent] wrote six records for [Game], he wrote his whole album, and every record that he had out as a single. Lets go to Fat Joe: we left his fat-ass alone for a while, but then he got on BET and he said some funny sh*t about how he don’t see us in the club. N*ggas is worth more than the club, and you don’t see us in the club because they’ll be a stampede. N*ggas see you in the middle of the street, and nobody runs to you.
Now lets go to [Young] Buck: He spent all his money, and now he’s mad at us for what? I don’t know. He spent all his cake, he wanna chill with [Young] Jeezy and them; it’s all good, nobody’s mad at you do ya thing. Who else? Ja Rule? You already know the story with Ja Rule, he’s history, he’s finished. We don’t even want to talk about that. But we didn’t start that one either. So who else? Name one. Who did we start with?
That was a really good rundown… [Laughing]
Tony Yayo: As for Rocsi, nobody said nothing to Rocsi. We was on the couch chilling with her, and I complemented her on her shoes, you can rewind the tape. I was real politically correct, but you can’t do that cause the industry wants you to be on some ‘hood sh*t. Then she goes in, “Oh f*ck you, and f*ck 50 [Cent]! ” And now you feel wrong because it’s out there. You can’t say something in the media, and take it back.
How much do you think the media is to blame on how people perceive you guys?
Tony Yayo: I don’t think the media is to blame, I think the media be tricking mothaf*ckas into saying sh*t. Man let me tell you something that happened: One day I was talking to my man about Ghostface [Killah] and how somebody wrote his album for him. And there was a media guy there, and I should’ve known better not to talk in front of him, because whatever he hears he’s going to take it to make his interview juicy.
It is what it is, Ghostface [Killah] said to suck his d*ck, and I told him to suck my d*ck. I don’t usually invite n*ggas to my d*ck, I’m not that type of dude, no homo. But it was something that was took out of context, and I ain’t copping no plea or nothing like that.
Then I started arguing with the guy who was interviewing me over the sh*t! He must have been a Ghostface [Killah] fan. Everybody has their own opinions, and that’s what [you] people do. Y’all trick people into questions to make your show, your dot-coms, or whatever hot. That’s why newspapers put shootings on the front page, because they know someone is going to buy it, and that people want to see what’s going on.
With that said, does all the scrutiny and negative views people have against G-Unit ever bother you?
Lloyd Banks: NO! Hell no it bother me, because I’m content with who I am. That’s one of the things I respected about artists prior to G-Unit. You look at Big Daddy Kane, Slick Rick, Rakim, and Snoop Dogg. You know who they are. There are certain things about an artist that makes them special, and nowadays artists will do anything to get a ring tone, or just do what everybody else is doing. When they look back on G-Unit, they’re going to see a group that came in the game and changed the game. How do you think LL Cool J is still around? He changed with the times, but he remained “LL Cool J.”
I just feel like that is what’s missing in Hip-Hop, everyone is agreeing to disagree and doing a bunch of ‘Self-Destruction’ records. There was a time where if you heard Method Man, Snoop [Dogg], and DMX on a record, it was exciting. Now they do the sh*t so much, it’s like an alliance. So I just think G-Unit is a breath of fresh air and we’re taking it back to the street.
Tony Yayo: And I’m tired of hearing DJ Khaled, “WE DA BEST!” I’m tired of hearing that sh*t! That sh*t is garbage man! For real!
[Laughing] You guys have been labeled controversial, arrogant, and trouble makers. How do you see yourselves?
Tony Yayo: It don’t even be like that! You know what it is? People only hear one side of the story. Even with the Rocsi thing, nobody had no problems with her, and now it’s online that she’s dissing the Unit and dissing 50 [Cent], the big homie. I’m trying to figure out where the hate comes from, because we don’t have any problems with these people.
Lloyd Banks: That all come from fear. That comes from knowing that you can’t say something about me, [Tony] Yayo, or 50 [Cent] and it’s not going to get back to us. They’re so used to playing break up to make up so much that they’re comfortable with that. This is something that’s not going to change, and I say this all the time. When we’re old and gray and see them somewhere, I’m going to kick them down the steps out of their wheelchair…
Tony Yayo: [Laughing]…
Lloyd Banks: It’s on FOREVER! If I had a son, I’d tell my son to punch [his] son in the face.
[Laughing] So the confrontations with other crews and people are never going to end?
Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks: [Collectively] There is no beef…
Lloyd Banks: This is just exhausting, and they don’t want that. They’re at a different stage in their career; these dudes are 35-36 or more. They have kids and families.
Tony Yayo: Then when you see them, they don’t want nothing…
Lloyd Banks: And that veteran sh*t is overrated man…
Tony Yayo: I saw Fat Joe dancing on MTV, come on man stop playing yourself. These dudes are a facade. My parents came from another country, they came from Haiti, and now they’re living in a mansion. And so is [Lloyd] Banks’ mother.
So [Lloyd] Banks, you think the whole ‘veteran thing’ is overrated?
Lloyd Banks: Yeah man, I do. It’s just like the NBA: N*ggas play for four years, and then they want to go to the Hall Of Fame. I’ve been in the game since 2001, and if that’s the case, I consider myself a veteran too. I’ve done more than a lot of these n*ggas put together. I got two albums, I’ve been on a sound track, and I’ve been on six world tours. I have enough experience to overwhelm you.
http://www.sixshot.com/interviews/11316/
