Lloyd Banks- The Hunger For More

   Although the person appears to be wealthy, the background, as I mentioned before, tells its own story. It could be emphasising his background or childhood. Lloyd Banks’ body language and facial expressions on the front cover make him look as though he is suspicious and he always has to watch his back. He looks wary yet doubtful. Compared to the atmosphere around him he looks leery. Observing from another person point of view (who’s at the same location), I would think he appears to be very mistrustful.

         I think the most important signifiers are the person’s facial expressions

and the background. Both of these back-up the artist and his idea of having a ‘street’ or ‘thug’ impression. By doing so people presume that ‘thugs’ are cold- hearted, money- hungry, don’t trust no-one type of people. Undoubtedly this is what the artist is trying to put across. I feel the artist is showing much emotion, everything I feel he IS showing, I have already mentioned.

         I think that there are a couple of messages involving class, gender and race being put across. Firstly, as I mentioned earlier Lloyd Banks is attempting to put across a ‘thug life’ image. Although he may not feel the same way, I think it really degrades the majority of black people around the world, because not all of them want the same image of being ‘money- hungry’ people living in poor urban neighbourhoods. I think this kind of imagery really rates black people lowly in accordance with class. And the name of the album also needs to be underlined for, in a way, saying that these black people are ‘hungry for more’, when its icons like Lloyd Banks who give them this deprived image in the first place, and then appear on newspapers, T.V. etc. being proud of it.