Lloyd Banks – “FNO: Failure’s No Option” (Mixtape Review) DX Consensus: “EP-Worthy”
As Rap’s more mainstream iteration heads into a strange period defined by globalism, an expanded notion of what makes for great production and a bevy of unproven upstarts laying claim to the throne, veterans like ex-G-Unit luminary Lloyd Banks rule the industry’s underground ranks with an iron fist. As long as emcees practice the art of storytelling, know how to spit an air-tight 16 bars and can remain commercially sustainable by any means necessary, they occupy the important space of being the protectors of Rap at a time where its classic standard is arguably in its greatest need for aid. In naming his latest mixtape project “FNO (Failure’s No Option),” it leaves absolutely no question as to Banks’ intentions as an “old school” king in a new school age.
Eight producers contribute 16 tracks of material to the project. For those expecting some sort of 808 and Trap-Rap laden rehash of his performance on stellar 2003 G-Unit debut Beg For Mercy, you’re listening to the wrong mixtape. The bulk of the work here is handled by Doe Pesci, a Queens-based producer who has been working with Banks since 2010’s Hunger For More 2. However, the overall cleanest and production given the best lyrical treatment is Beat Butcha’s staccato drum and double bass loop for Banks and Harlem emcee Vado’s “Paint the Sky.” At the point where dominant New York emcees stopped being drug dealers with an ear to the streets and became 21st century corporate cash kings, rappers like Banks and Vado became also rans insofar as their mainstream relevancy. There’s something to their ability to stay grounded—as opposed to daring to touch the ground for fear of causing an earthquake—that makes their performances particularly ear-worming. Yes, Vado’s descriptions in particular of “[wanting to be a] King like Coretta’s marriage,” and daring haters to come at his crew because “we put a hole-in-one, we like golf, too” don’t exactly tread new lyrical territory for Rap music, but are delivered with a level of efficiency and charisma that make them nevertheless worthwhile.
Banks is clearly more than able to handle himself as a performer. Putting out a mixtape at this point is the equivalent of making public the results of one’s yearly physical examination. The free download is the audio equivalent of saying, “I’m alive. I’m well, my rhymes are still tight, and yes, I am available for bookings.” Picking any one of the 16 tracks on the mixtape—say, “Keep Up,” track 11’s ode to having so many hoes but so little time—Banks effortlessly utilizes a rare (to his defined skill set) double-time flow over a melancholy half-time beat, and executes with perfection.
With artists like Lloyd Banks making mixtapes and the Rap music community waiting for Trinidad James’ debut album to finally drop via Def Jam, one of the Rap industry’s greatest flaws at its most culturally dominant moment is exposed. Rap has become a culture driven more by promise than results and by assumed expectations than clearly-defined abilities. In making a corollary to the National Basketball Association, the issue with that theory is made readily apparent. Every year we get excited about a team like the Los Angeles Clippers with their trend-driven, fast-break happy highlight reel flair. However, at the end of the year, it’s always the San Antonio Spurs—an older, fundamentally sound and defensively solid team that wins. If you are still a fan of artists like Lloyd Banks, you believe like Banks that “failure’s no option,” and hope for a return to an era before Rap arguably lost its way. Thus, in erring more on the side of substance over style, this mixtape is a welcome anathema from what is arguably, for the classic Rap fanatic, a terrifying era.
it’s a 5 to me, the lyrics were dope, beats dope, album arrangement dope, features dope
Best CD of the year hands down. PLK at his very best!
4/5
As an accountant for Cash Money, I can confirm that a documentary starring Birdman will be released in January 2014. It details the life & career of Brian “Baby” Williams and how he influenced other legendary rappers such as Rakim, Kool G. Rap, and Big Daddy Kane. Birdman, myself, and Ronald “Slim” Williams executive produced the film; I also directed it & wrote the screenplay. YMCMB – we run the game by the clit.
Goat
Banks my fav M.C, lyrical ability on solid beats keeps me a fan, can’t wait 4 the next mixtape on the A.O.N series, its a 5 from me.
Great album. This review spends way too much time trying to make statements about the industry instead of talking about the merits of the album.
The review doesn’t even mention that Styles P and Raekwon are on the album, and that Banks more than holds his own against these guys. This is a weak review of a great album.
There is no drug dealing talk on this album, the only thing that can be a little tiring is the misogynistic talk. This plays front to back, nothing to skip.
The reason NY djs aren’t playing some of these tracks in clubs is because they don’t know how to DJ. “Pain in Variety” for example bangs, anyone with two copies of this break could get the crowd in a frenzy before the verse even drops. Same goes for “You Wish”.
Classic mixtape; King Mez “Everlasting Zeal”, and Willie the Kid “The Crates”, are other classics from the past few years.
Horrible review, where is the track breakdown?
Lyrically it’s a masterpiece, you can clearly hear the beats were made for Banks. His delivery, flow, lyrics surely must be up there with the greats, because that’s where I put him, his in my top 5. The mixtape is skipless, you really need to incredibly high standards to skip a track on this tape.
Dutch rapper Mr Propz deliverys a incredible hook on No Surrender. The two connected via Jay Bombaye who also mixed the tape.
The SOI (Spread of Infection) team made amazing beats, and I know alot of rappers cannot wait for the instrumentals to be released.
Overall it’s the best body of work in 2013, and it’s free. 5/5
As an accountant for Cash Money, I can confirm that a documentary starring Birdman will be released in January 2014. It details the life & career of Brian “Baby” Williams and how he influenced other legendary rappers such as Rakim, Kool G. Rap, and Big Daddy Kane. There’s even a scene where Birdman teaches Rakim how to rhyme @ the pizzeria he worked at in Long Island. Birdman, myself, and Ronald “Slim” Williams executive produced the film; I also directed it & wrote the screenplay. YMCMB – we run the game by the clit.
birdman cant teach anyone how to rap let alone Rakim, u idiot, fuck YMCMB they ruined hip hop
Long live YMCMB. Fuck all fags who cant get our legacy
Short live, YMCMBWTFLOLBBQ. Fuck everybody who think our “music” is even music.. We admit, it’s not music at all. We suck hard.
great tape,
ILL Banks never disappoints
This nigga is a typical mixtape rapper. He is good for 4 or 5 songs and thats it. Nigga cant carry an album by his own. Too much bullshit about money, bitches and guns
This nigga is a typical mixtape rapper. He is good for 4 or 5 songs and thats it. Nigga cant carry an album by his own. Too much bullshit about money, bitches and guns
You didn’t listen if you said that. stop hating and listen to it.
what ? did u listened to the tape ? no skip
dope
Horrible review. Lloyd Banks brings nothing but solid lyricism over dope beats on this mixtape and it’s definitely album material with just a little tighter mixing and mastering. To anybody claiming his subject matter only consists of bitches, guns, and drugs, your opinion is invalid and it’s obvious you didn’t listen to every track.
Some songs are good.
“Substance over style” perfect description for this tape. 5/5
What!!! This review is horrible and the reviewer was Taking shots at Trinidad James. I don’t like him but it seems this person barely spoke about Banks mixtape and did he really compare the PLK to the San Antonio Spurs? So Banks is old now?….
Hands down the best album of the year. And yes I’m going to call it an album because it is that fucking good. Whoever said that it’s about guns, bitches and drugs clearly didn’t listen to Daily Betrayal, House Pride, Drop a Diamond, The Natural, Pain In Variety, You Wish, The Plague…
Banks easily top 5 for me and this epitomises his incredible and underrated talents.
NOT A HUGE BANKS FAN AND HAVEN’T ENJOYED HIS LAST FEW MIXTAPES BUT I CAN HONESTLY SAY THIS IS AT THE MOMENT MY FAVORITE PROJECT OF THE YEAR AND I DIDN’T EVEN HAVE TO PAY FOR IT. THIS IS REAL NEW YORK HIP HOP AT ITS FINEST IN 2013.
ANYONE ON TWITTER GET AT BANKS AND THE PRODUCERS AND TELL THEM TO MIX AND MASTER IT TAKE DRAMA OFF AND PUT IT UP ON ITUNES.
5/5 without a doubt…this whole mixtape got that rewind effect..banks was going off to the point you had to rewind it a few times cuz it flew over your head the first time
Love that Trinifag joke at the beginning, ‘Rap music community waiting fro Triniga’s debut’ that was funny.
definitely being overrated.
If you think think banks is overrated. What rapper do you think is better then him ?
@olddog everyone is
@olddog, im not going to put out a list of every rapper that is better than banks, it would take to much space. All i’m saying is there is no way this is a 5 star project. You guys are too quick to hand out 5 stars just because this isn’t about money drugs and hoes. Just because the subject matter isn’t stereotypical doesn’t make a rapper good.
@P
i think olddog has a point tho, please by all means give us a couple of mixtapes that you would place higher than Bank’s recent project you have me curious.
Chance The Rapper – Acid Rap..
Simple as that bru
word, nicki minaj groupies come saying its overrated.. pathetic
that makes no sense. people are allowed to have opinions.
just because someone doesn’t like a project doesn’t make them a “nicki minaj groupie”.
i have no idea how you made that correlation. maybe it’s people with your logic who think this project is 5 stars worthy.
fresh new york sound, cohesive ,with much substance
check out antlow born here on youtube
This review is really terrible, 70% of it had nothing to do with the tape itself. I mean in terms of your ratings it seems like drakes, Coles, jays, Kanyes etc albums were better than this and I would disagree. This was the most complete body of work this year (based on mainstream hip hop at least), you could listen to it 5 times non stop from start to finish and still want to hear it again, how many projects out this year could have that effect on a listener?
Just cus you’re a Banks homer don’t mean he’s the best Drake, Pusha T, J. Cole, MMG had better albums, Logic & Dizzy Wright had better mixtapes too, besides that maybe Hopsin gives him a little comp. banks killed the tape tho
this tape is better than most of the albums released in 2013
Great review. The Clippers and Spurs analogy is on fucking point!
This is in his top 3 tapes along with Cold Corner 2…Banks really brought that grimey new york sound with substance. .he really put that work in.this along with KRITs tape could get mixtape of the year
5 star mixtape…don’t know what more you can ask of Banks except to put out a decent album with hits on it…CC2, V5, V6, and now FNO…excellence and consistency…the track with Raekwon alone bodies people’s whole work.
haters can’t Keep Up
Mah nig
MY NIGGA LLOYD B
Str8 fire Banks keep winning IDK why this and V6 haven’t received the HHDX “highest praise for a mixtape” stamp of approval..y’all be hating on Banks big time. You have a Drake pop/RNB album at FOUR Stars and cannot give bank$ a high rating?! sloppy
Str8 up real hip-hop music with some soul to it. PLK did it again. Salute.
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Lol the homie banks said ‘chain still swings like freak couples’ on that reminder track
lloyd banks just never lets me down musically. this tape (as well as V6) Is top5 of the year
fuck i made an error in this.. figure it out
delivery,metaphors, punchlines, double entendres, style, gritty, classic,PLK,bars,rewind factor,FNO!!!
niggas hype this man ode smmfh i must be retarded cuz i barley hear any double entendres or crazy wordplay from this guy niggas overrated ode if you calling him the PLK foh
@trent You said it right you must be disable if you dont agree. Fuck this nigga talkin bout #top5 PUNCHLINE KING, THE MOST UNDERRATED EMCEE TOP 5 DEAD OR ALIVE you mist listen to all this dilluted hip hop that commercial bs. Smh
Banks always delivers. No matter what he comes in consistent. Another near classic mixtape, if not classic
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Love “keep up” , “my flight”, and “house pride”
GOAT mixtape.
very tight. maybe 2 filler tracks but its a 4.5 and is classic. banks has a brain.
boring voice but he makes up for it with the rhymes
NOt my cup of tea.
so Fukk off then.
seriously whats the point of saying that shitt?
Solid stuff but I feel it’s missing something. 3.2
Bringin back that heat
That was an extremely well written article.
Can’t wait for Cold Corner 3
Amazing work , unbelievable
Tighter than a nun’s crack!
classic tape
most underrated rapper out
love this tape banks needs to put more of an effort out he should be where drake at long gone are the days where there were multiple great black artist
cold corner 3 coming soon
Banks is a Beast period! Always has been!
I truly think that this should’ve turn into an album. Unlike other mixtapes he had, this one is more of an classic. All of the tracks have rare beats that you can have on repeat, and every flow goes with the beat. One of my favorite artist, and I hope his next studio album is like F.N.O
I agree with everything you said.
Dope mixtape i agree.. Sounds like an album.. Layed back, that grown up music
Dope Mixtape
PLK
love this mixtape..classic Banks..hard NYC beats and real life lyrics
Dope, banks is top 20 dead or alive just based on his mixtape grind
y
k
Finally something new from Banks
PLK!!
Killer mixtape
banks has gotten boring over the years
Meh
This was written uncharacteristically well for this site’s authors. Frankly this is an excellent piece of writing.
mixtapes mad sick beats n cold flow…. favorite tracks
FNO
Paint the Sky
Cover Me
Clean and grimy Production, masterful storytelling, and amazing features
best mixtape of 2013, better than most albums dropped this year
Top 3 mixtapes of 2013
1.) welcome to forever-logic
2.) the golden age-dizzy wright
3.) failure’s no option-lloyd banks
Amazing
Still on HEAVY rotation.
Flames. Real NY is, ain’t nobody else holding it down so thank you PLK
fire
Best piece of hip hop created. Ever. I put that on my momma