Lloyd Banks

Lloyd was born in New Carrollton, Maryland. His mother is Puerto Rican and his father was African American. His mother was 17 when she had him, his parents were young and never married. His father spent most of Banks' childhood in prison. This left Banks' mother to raise him and his siblings alone. Young Christopher Lloyd had the responsibility of taking care of his younger brothers when his mother went out

Banks moved to Jamaica, Queens, New York when he was 6. He started writing something resembling poetry at a young age and it started taking form. Eventually, he got the courage one day and rapped his rhymes on the streets of Jamaica, Queens. People's reaction to it stunned him. He kept freestyling and participating in local battles, earning a name for himself as a local MC.

Lloyd Banks grew up around the corner from 50 Cent and Tony Yayo so they all would usually rap together and starred in a lot of city shows. Banks attended August Martin High School in Queens, New York. Even when he was in school, instead of doing his school work he would write down everything that came to mind. Even when he wasn't rapping he would write. It was something he did in his spare time. He could not flourish lyrically in a structured school environment, so he dropped out before he turned 16.

He took his great, great grandfather's name "Banks" passed on by his uncles who also shared it.

Yayo, being an older and more experienced MC, went on the road with 50 Cent on the Nas promo tour\the Cash Money/Ruff Ryders Tour. As Banks remained at home waiting for 50 and Yayo to return, he started rapping around the neighborhood to create a buzz for himself. He then hooked up with neighborhood producers and made tracks for local mixtapes. Lloyd Banks has a well-built reputation on the underground mixtape scene

Banks was shot twice in September 2001, by what's believed to be stray gunfire in his neighborhood.

50 Cent was soon signed to Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Records and released the album Get Rich Or Die Tryin, which Banks was featured on the song "Don't Push Me". Lloyd Banks then became one of the first artist signed to Aftermath subsidiary G-Unit. G Unit released their first official group album Beg For Mercy in November of 2003, which remained in the top 20 of the Billboard 2000 after four months on the charts.

In 2003, Banks was anointed 2003's Mixtape Artist of the Year at the Mixtape Awards due to his appearance on G-Unit mixtapes as well as his own Money in the Bank series. Though these successes allowed Lloyd Banks to tour the world multiple times over, one accomplishment means a bit more than all the rest.

Lloyd Banks released his solo debut album The Hunger For More in June of 2004. Lloyd Banks released the summer smash hit On Fire featuring 50 Cent to help his album sell over 433,000 its first week and eventually selling over 2.6 million Records in the US and 4 million worldwide.