Queens, New York emcee Lloyd Banks celebrating his 43rd birthday by releasing his 20th mixtape. 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 along with the whole Course of the Inevitable album trilogy gaining renewed interest in the PLK himself. Halloween Havoc IV: The 72nd Hr came out roughly 6 months ago & is back already with the 3rd installment of the A.O.N. (All or Nothing) series.
“Determination” is this piano-laced boom bap intro talking about coming back moving differently & kicking ass whereas “If I Wake Up” suggests that he should already be dead with what he’s become in addition to the sacrifices made to be on top. “1982” featuring Ransom produced by Cartune Beatz aggressively reps the year Banks was born leading into “1 Life” shrugs off those never liking him with Haas Almahdi.
As for “Pick & Choose”, we have Lloyd talking about never following the paths of others since that’s why people end up taking Ls just before “Despite My Mistakes” featuring Styles P suggests shit happens for a reason & there being money to make. “Rolling” works in some horns to talk about always having to keep it moving regardless, but then “Endangered Innocence” featuring Ghostface Killah admits they wouldn’t change anything over a soulful Nicholas Craven instrumental.
“Art of Rap” returns to the boom bap giving his flowers to this culture that we’ve been calling hip hop for over 5 decades already just before “Perfect World” talks about taking your time still going for a hardcore vibe generally. TL TopOfDaLyne saves the tape’s weakest feature for “Dedication” although I very much respect the overall theme & the summertime feel to the beat while “Keep Pushing” once again delivers more grown man boom bap.
Moving on from there, “Traumatized” conceptually talks about everyone continuing to dream & them later justifiably regretting it if they don’t try at all while “Revolving Door” discusses the difficulty of looking at him when you know good & well he proved you wrong. “The Grudge” responds to everyone who thinks money can erase insecurities or reputation’s invincible until it bleeds while the highlight “No Info” talks about riding when the time’s right over an Olympicks beat.
“Upper Echelon” starts the final moments of A.O.N. 3: (All or Nothing 3): Despite My Mistakes on a jazzier note making it an effort to keep it moving with his back fully against the clock & getting back in his position whether people like it or not while “High Powered” officially sends off the tape with more jazz rap influences confessing the love he’s always had has been starting to change as of late.
Both of the previous entries in the A.O.N (All or Nothing) saga F.N.O. (Failure’s No Option) & L.I.U. (Live It Up) have quickly become amongst the most celebrated mixtapes of the previous decade, so finally getting Despite My Mistakes only 7 months after being announced didn’t disappoint because the hot streak he’s been on all decade since leaving G-Unit Records carries on.
Score: 4/5
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