G-Unit were once thick as thieves, but these days 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks just aren’t on the same page.
Yayo took to Instagram last week to announce that he was done making music and Fif is busy prepping his June solo release, Animal Ambition. So what about Banks?
“I think he wanted his independence,” 50 told MTV News on Monday just before a sit-down at Eminem’s Shade 45 radio station, where he taped a SIRIUS XM Town Hall with fans set to air on March 31. “[Yayo and Banks are] like my little brothers, so at points I say things that make them uncomfortable. There was one point where you can even say I was a bit insensitive,” 50 admitted.
In an MTV interview set to air in full today (March 19) on “RapFix Live,” 50 explained that Banks started feeling uninspired musically after his father died in 2006. But 50 revealed that he found it hard to relate to his longtime homey’s grief.
“His father passed away and I was like, ‘All right, he passed away but you can’t just go home and stay home,’ ” 50 recalled telling Banks.
LB did go on to release 2008’s T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight) with G-Unit and his The Hunger For More 2 solo LP in 2010. There have been a number of solo mixtapes, too, but with each passing year, Banks has continued to withdraw from his old crew.
To 50, another rapper who also lost a parent but pulled themselves through dark times — Kanye West — is a perfect example of how an artist can pull themselves out of a dark moment.
“Ask Kanye, his mother passed away while his record was at a peak point. If he didn’t go on tour, he wouldn’t be the Kanye you know right now,” 50 said referencing the 2007 death of Donda West. “He worked his way through that situation; the world doesn’t stop.”
While Fif did admit to being a bit insensitive in hindsight, he also hinted that there’s more to his issues with Banks: “When one of my homeys get killed or they pass away, we don’t stop doing what we’ve been doing. Five or six people got killed when we were on the road prior to [Banks] actually behaving like that. To me, it’s an excuse.”
Last year, Yayo, expressed his general disappointment with G-Unit, complaining that, “When everybody got money, it’s like things just went downhill. So it’s like, I dunno, egos.” Yayo tried to put the rift in context before admitting that he “would love to see a G-Unit reunion. I would love to see me, Banks and 50 definitely onstage.”
But in a candid Instagram last week, a reunion didn’t seem to be in the near future. “50 ain’t rocking with me and Banks the same layed my life down for the unit but you live and learn,” Yayo wrote.
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