Wouldn’t be a Halloween without the 21st mixtape from Queens, New York 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 along with the whole Course of the Inevitable album trilogy gaining renewed interest in the PLK himself. 6 months following A.O.N. 3: (All or Nothing 3): Despite My Mistakes, it was only a matter of time until we got Halloween Havoc VI: The 6 of Swords.

“Addition by Subtraction” starts with a drumless chipmunk soul instrumental from Cartune Beatz talking about cropping pictures because some people don’t belong in them whereas “Eat What You Kill” promises to make the music split people in half like he’s slicing their faces with a razor blade. “Book of Records” goes for a bit a boom bap direction talking about not slowing down because he can’t afford to do so leading into the grisly “If Time Permits” looking to get everything on the table.

As for “Haddonfield”, we have Lloyd over a chillin vocal sample providing mayhem to the masses just before “Supposed to Be” hooks up a soul flip to talk about how things are meant to unfold from his perspective. “Die Slow” experiments with trap a bit explaining that he’d rather be living fast while “Save a Spot” profoundly finishes the 1st half talking about time continuously flying away & the race again against has all been by design.

“Made a Fool of Me” works in a boom bap instrumental that Haas Almahdi cooked up with some cumbersome piano chords speaking of disloyal people & love being cancelled to some while the cloudily raw “Changed Up” talks about people switching on him. “The Eye Test” brings some organs into the fold ready to 187 microphones for the 718 while “It Ain’t Going Well” confesses he hasn’t been doing all that greatly for him as of late because another problem occurring on the daily.

Starting the final act of Halloween Havoc VI: The 6 of Swords, the song “Talk About It Lata” caution that there’s consequences for people acting gangsta out in the streets while “Father Forgive” talks about him hoping that people will appreciate this last rush. “Happy Eyes Lie People” plays with the idea of him checking outta here for good & “What’s Your Purpose?” concludes by asking for our motives because those who don’t have one don’t have anything going for them.

With all of the praise I have for Lloyd Banks’ penmanship & I can appreciate him continuing the Halloween Havoc series because of the way shit’s been going for him, I feel like he needs to switch up his production a bit. No shade towards Haas Almahdi or Cartune Beatz because they’re both good dudes, but I’m confidently sure some of the greats like The Alchemist or Hit-Boy & Conductor Williams would love to work with him.

Score: 3.5/5

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