This is the 19th mixtape from Queens emcee Lloyd Banks. Gaining notoriety in the 2000s for his witty punchlines along as well as being an original member of G-Unit alongside childhood friends 50 Cent & Tony Yayo, he kept himself busy for a little while after the group’s disbandment in 2015 by releasing A.O.N. 2 (All Or Nothing 2): L.I.U. (Live It Up) & Halloween Havoc 3: 4 Days of Fury just before taking on a 5-year hiatus that really lasted until he received a song placement on the soundtrack for Griselda Records’ theatrical debut Conflicted a year & a half ago along with the whole Course of the Inevitable album trilogy gaining renewed interest in the PLK himself. A year after Halloween Havoc IV: The 72nd Hr, Lloyd’s keeping the saga alive.
“You Have My Word” produced by Ron Browz eerily starts off by telling anyone who crosses him to make sure that they stay crossing him for the rest of their lives whereas “Complications” takes the Hellish boom bap route instrumentally talking about being careful of when you speak before you get all the facts. “Season of the Psychos” with Haas Almahdi morbidly promises that he can handle his own weight, but then “Connoisseur” takes us back in the basement calling himself the top seed when he gets on.
Meanwhile on “Broken Hearts”, we have Lloyd over more kicks & snares from Cartune Beatz to talk about the city of heartbreak just before “Double Up” maintains a somber boom bap flare to the beat calling victory the love of his life. “Love is Love” dustily seeks to fuck up the arguments & hypothetics of someone he used to know that fell off musically leading into “Choose Wisely” ruggedly, talking about how there ain’t no money behind these fake pages.
“Resources” rawly observes that everything’s strange now & everyone feeling his energy the second he sets foot in the room while the cold-blooded “Taking Notes” talks about the fact that where he comes from ain’t no joke to him whatsoever. “Shooting the Messenger” aggressively check the temperature since he’s burning up again while “Seminar” publicly expresses his frustration towards everyone else out here & he’s pretty much sick of ‘em.
Starting the 5th installment of the Halloween Havoc series’ final leg, “Regrets” looks at all the possibilities in his future & going broke not being an option while “In the Mix” kinda has some trap undertones talking about expecting a snitch since this life’s a bitch. “Keep It Solid” pushes further to the end keeping it legit & “Graduated” viciously ends reminding that what goes around comes around.
Cartune Beatz has been getting a lot of attention as of late & only a couple weeks after fully producing Machine Gun Vocabulary for Tha God Fahim, he produces nearly half of Halloween Havoc V improving on the predecessor that we got 365 days ago exactly. The production is prominently built around the traditional boom bap sound, refined from The 72nd Hr so the former G-Unit member can go even harder with his signature punchlines.
Score: 4/5
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