Posts Tagged ‘Blue Friday’

Blue Friday 11/20/10: Big L Helps Lloyd Banks Stay Heavy in the Streets

Posted: November 20, 2010 in Music News
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Here we are with the final installment of Lloyd’s Banks’s Blue Friday series. As expected, there were some gems and a few straight throwaways. This song, “Large On the Streets,” does its job of ending the series on a high note.

There’s a nice Big L vocal sample, and the beat has that slow, melodic sound that fits Bank’s new voice. There’s only a few Blue Friday tracks I’ve said are album worthy, and this is one of them.

If you appreciate the work Banks has put in, remember to show him some love by purchasing Hunger For More 2 on November 22. You can preorder through iTunes.

LLOYD BANKS “LARGE ON THE STREETS”

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Lloyd Banks Blue Friday 11/7/10: “Make Money”

Posted: November 7, 2010 in Music News
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Lloyd Banks dropped his delayed Blue Friday track earlier today (Blue Sunday?). I’m not big on the synthy loops, but it’s ok here with Banks’ flossing theme. Some of the fans on thisis50.com has said this is good enough to make November 22nd’s Hunger For More 2 album. I see it as just mixtape track. You judge. After the link, check out a bonus track “Unexplainable,” featuring Styles P. Now that one, I wouldn’t mind on the album.

LLOYD BANKS “MAKE MONEY”

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LLOYD BANKS FEAT. STYLES P “UNEXPLAINABLE” (RADIO RIP)

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Timbaland Joins Free Music Series Trend With Timbo Thursdays

Posted: November 2, 2010 in Music News
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No good idea in Hip-Hop goes unnoticed. Timbaland has taken a que from his contemporaries, and announced the formation of his very own free weekly music series, Timbo Thursdays.

Timbaland confirmed the news via Twitter, citing the recent work of Kanye West (G.O.O.D. Fridays) and Swizz Beatz (Monster Mondays) as his inspiration.

“So my brother told me Kanye is putting out a new song every Friday called G.O.O.D. Fridays. Swizz got Mondays,” Timbaland tweeted. “I don’t know if they are on Twitter,but you can hit them up and tell them to reserve Thursday for Timbo da king baby.”

Timbaland would be the sixth artist this year to launch their own weekly series. He follows the work of Joe Budden (Mood Muzik Mondays), Lloyd Banks (Blue Friday), the RZA (Wu Wednesdays), Rock of Heltah Skeltah (Monsta Mondays), Kanye West (G.O.O.D. Fridays), and Swizz Beatz (Monster Mondays). The trend’s originator is Crooked I, whose groundbreaking Hip-Hop Weekly series had him releasing new freestyles every week from April 4, 2007 through April 3, 2008.

Although Timbaland’s series will happen, the Virginia producer is not sure on actual start date. For now, he is taking his time mixing tracks and deciding which ones are worthy for public consumption.

“I will announce when Timbo Thursday will officially start. I can’t at the moment ’cause I’m in mixing mode,” he said.

Timbaland plans to release his fourth studio album, Shock Value III, in early 2011.

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All we need now is someone to lock up Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday to have the whole week wrapped up. There’s always a danger of saturation, but I personally like to see artists opening up their vaults and showing musically what direction they have, or are looking to go into.

With Timbaland, I hope he concentrates more on his Hip-Hop and R&B tracks than his Pop work. Tim’s been in the game since the mid 90′s, so he has a wealth of material to sift through. Imagine if he threw up some Aaliyah tracks from the One In a Million era? Or some Missy from the Supa Dupa Fly timeframe? I think he could really do something with his series if he looks back at his late 90′s work.

I hope Just Blaze jumps into the fray (Blazing Saturdays, perhaps?). At a beat session I went to last year, he played snippets of some crazy tracks like Jay Electronica’s “Exhibit B,” and a song with Twista and Busta Rhymes that had the fastest rhyming I’ve ever heard.

Blue Friday 10/30/10: Lloyd Banks Goodbyes Are Not Forever

Posted: October 31, 2010 in Music News
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With the latest G.O.O.D. Friday and Nicki Minaj/Eminem releases, Lloyd Banks’s Blue Friday drop is once again being overlooked. But those who’ve been payinhg attention to Banks’ output know to check for him just as much as the aforementioned superstars. This week, he goes with a ”bigger is better” approach on “Goodbye.”

When I say ”bigger is better,” it’s in regards to the beat, which combines high-powered synths and guitar licks. It’s much more lively than than the plodding ”When I Get There” from last week, and Banks responds in kind with more energy to meet the track’s production. “Goodbye” is a nice drop and one of the higher-tier Blue Friday/Saturday offerings.

LLOYD BANKS “GOODBYE”

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Blue Friday 10/23/10: Lloyd Banks Is On His Way

Posted: October 23, 2010 in Music News
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“Fuck your head nod and your pounds, show love to no one…”

When drops his G.O.O.D. Friday track on Saturday, you know Lloyd Banks isn’t too far behind with his Blue Friday series. Most people are thankful and appreciative of others when the reach the pinnacle of success. Lloyd Banks represents other sentiments, namely defiance and smug triumph at those who doubted and ridiculed his chances. This is summed up quite well in a portion of the song’s chorus.

“When I get to the top/All the way to the top/I’m a shit on you/Then come back down/So I can spit on you/ It’s pitiful/ The shit they do…”

With that said, Banks doesn’t seem too engaged on this one. Doe Pesci’s dull beat probably has a lot to do with it. From what we’ve heard so far, Banks seems to enjoy and bring the most energy on those boom-bap, sample-based styled joints like “Reach Out,” “King/Do My Thing,” and “Finish Line.” HFM2 in stores on November 23.

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Lloyd Banks Blue Friday 10/16/10: “Finish Line”

Posted: October 17, 2010 in Music News
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“Underdog is cool, I’m used to being overlooked…”

These Friday deadlines are becoming quite cubersome for both Kanye West and Lloyd Banks. The latest Blue Friday/Saturday offering keeps with the minimalist, early 90s boom bap sound that Banks has used prominently in the series.

The guitar lick mimics a mournful wail, but the stutter-step of the drum arrangements adds some life and prevents the track from being plodding dirge. Outside of that, there’s no addition bells or whistles from a production standpiint. It’s a simple, recurring loop and perfect fodder for most lyrical emcees.

Instead of basic Hip-Hop song structure, Banks opts for a single, long rhyme and an ending chorus. The verse retains a few lines of braggadocio, but ultimately focuses on Banks’s determination to complete his comeback. He references his love for his family (grandmother in particular), and how that kept him grounded and inspired after the rest of the industry wrote him off. The last few bars seem directed at former friend and G Unit member Game. During that beef, there seemed to be some real personal animosity. With Banks now regaining some traction and Game struggling for a release date, it appears Banks still has a small score to settle.

I remember everything they said

They said I was dead, I dead all that

Sledgehammer right on your head

Soo Woo to gone

Sucker niggas left red

No time for waiting

Rather get mine instead

Hunger For More 2 drops November 23.

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The RIAA Still Doesn’t Get It

Posted: September 30, 2010 in Hip-Hop Editorial
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I woke up this morning to a nice copyright infringing notice from the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America). The issue for them was last week’s Blue Friday song from Lloyd Banks. The track is part of Banks’ free song campaign to promote his upcoming Hunger For More 2 album. Apparently, the RIAA didn’t get the notice, because they informed me that I wasn’t authorized to post a free, promotional song. See below.

We have learned that your service is hosting the above web sites on your
network. These sites are offering direct links to files containing sound
recordings for other users to download by the artists known as A-Ha,
Lloyd Banks, Hot Chip, Young Jeezy, and Kylie.  These recordings are
owned by our member companies and have not been authorized for this kind
of use. We have a good faith belief that the above-described activity is
not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.  We assert
that the information in this notification is accurate, based upon the
data available to us.

In good faith, I don’t think the RIAA knows the difference between its right and left hand. I’m almost positive they have no idea that Banks is doing this to build interest for an actual album that would generate some revenue for the RIAA. They simply saw an artist’s name they have a stake in, and couldn’t even fathom for a second the artist could be deliberately releasing free music as a “thank you” to his fans.

But since they don’t know, I’ll take this opportunity to educate. I’ve sent out correspondence on the matter, and I’ll let you know when and if I get a response. We should all take this as another reminder that the dinosaur that is the RIAA will continue kicking and screaming until the very end.

 

Blue Friday 9/24/10: Lloyd Banks “Reach Out”

Posted: September 25, 2010 in Music News
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Shame on me. Kanye West may be getting all the attention via his G.O.O.D. Friday series, but let’s not act like ‘Ye is the only one dropping heat every Friday. Yesterday, Banks dropped the latest installment of his own Blue Friday series, “Reach Out.” Like last week, the song hits you with the vintage LLoyd Banks of 2002-2004 that had many people pegging him to be a G Unit’s breakout star. On this one, a few of you will notice that familiar, thumping bassline sample from Black Sheep’s “Flavor of the Month.”

Lloyd Banks’ Hunger for More 2 hits stores on November 23.