Twenty years ago today, on October 10, 2006, Lloyd Banks released his second album, Rotten Apple, through G-Unit and Interscope. It landed right in the middle of the G-Unit era, when 50 Cent’s crew was still one of the biggest brands in rap, and it showed the Punchline King trying to paint a darker picture of the city that raised him.
What It Was
The title flips “The Big Apple,” and the cover nods to the film King of New York. Banks said he wanted to show the grimier side of NYC and what growing up in South Jamaica, Queens was really like, according to Wikipedia’s album history. It wasn’t even supposed to be album two: his planned project, The Big Withdrawal, was scrapped after an unmastered copy leaked.
The credits read like a 2006 all-star sheet. Eminem produced the lead single “Hands Up” with 50 Cent and the Big Apple anthem “NY NY” with Tony Yayo. Havoc laid the title track with 50 and Prodigy. And Carolina, take a bow: North Carolina’s own 9th Wonder produced “One Night Stand” featuring Keon Bryce.
Standout Tracks
- “Rotten Apple” (feat. 50 Cent and Prodigy, prod. Havoc and Sha Money XL)
- “You Know the Deal” (feat. Rakim). Banks trading bars with the God MC is a moment.
- “Help” (feat. Keri Hilson), a radio-leaning cut produced by Ron Browz and Sha Money XL
- “Iceman” (feat. Young Buck, Scarface and 8Ball), a South-meets-Queens posse cut
- “Addicted” (feat. Musiq Soulchild)
The Numbers
Rotten Apple debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 with 143,000 copies in its first week and hit No. 1 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart. “Hands Up” peaked at No. 84 on the Hot 100 and No. 12 on the Rap chart, per Banks’ discography. It went Gold in Canada but was not certified in the U.S. Critics were split: Metacritic landed at 51, with reviews ranging from a D+ at Entertainment Weekly to an 8/10 at RapReviews.
The Legacy
Coming off The Hunger for More, which hit No. 1 in 2004, Rotten Apple got treated as a step back at the time. Twenty years later, it plays like a time capsule of mid-2000s New York: cold, cinematic and packed with punchlines, with Rakim, Scarface and Prodigy all on one tracklist. Banks’ reputation as one of the sharpest pure rhymers of his generation has only grown since, and this album is a big part of that catalog.
Real ones: is Rotten Apple underrated, or was The Hunger for More the peak? Run your favorite Banks verse back and let us know.
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Sources: Wikipedia: Rotten Apple | Wikipedia: Lloyd Banks discography | Wikipedia: 2006 in hip-hop
