Former G-Unit rapper Lloyd Banks dropped his first proper studio album in over a decade last week. Titled The Course of the Inevitable (or COTI for short), the project serves as the long awaited follow-up to 2010’s H.F.M. 2 (Hunger For More). As loyal G-Unit fans rushed to consume the 18-track project, they were likely searching for any reference to G-Unit boss 50 Cent.
In 50 Cent’s book Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter,the rapper-turned-television executive called Banks lazy, something that evidently didn’t sit right with him. Fans think Banks addresses the friction between the ex-groupmates on the COTI song “Stranger Things” in which he raps, “When you’re fucked up, behavior turns irregular quick, sometimes the pressure overwhelms when you’re the head of the clique/But don’t get ahead of yourself, I ain’t bending for shit/Nobody sees your vision until you’re successful.”
He continues, “Your favorite’s nowhere near me when I’m dedicated/Always humble, usually disciplined and never hated/Call me quiet, call me lazy, talent never faded/It’s frustrating when your grindin’ ain’t appreciated/Should have been dead in my twenties, shit, at least I made it/Guess I gotta prove myself again, increase your payment.”
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50 Cent may have inadvertently insulted Banks in Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter, but he also accepted culpability for his perceived shortcomings.
“I always felt that if I had maybe done a better job teaching Banks and Yayo how to evolve and change their habits, they each would be in better places right now,” he writes in the book, explaining they both had “unfulfilled potential.” “While I was out hustling, Banks was more content staying on his porch and watching the world from there.
“Banks wanted things to come to him, as opposed to going out and getting them for himself. That’s not me trying to assassinate his character—the guy has ‘Lazy Lloyd’ tattooed on his arm. He literally wears his laziness on his sleeve.”
The Course of the Inevitable arrived on June 4 with features from Freddie Gibbs, Benny The Butcher and Styles P, among others. Check it out below.
