Lloyd Banks, a Baltimore native, was raised in Queens, where his music career began when he began making reocrds with local producers and rappers. Banks was an original member of the rap collective G-Unit with 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, childhood friends of Banks. In his early recording days, his mixtapes gained wild popularity on the streets, causing his first album, The Hunger for More , to be released in 2004. Its popular commercial success led him to continue recording, collaborating with high-profile musicians and continuing to release solo albums.