Everyone is familiar with my old friend Shaheem Reid for his tireless work as the hip hop heart of MTV News, and now he’s teamed up with Chicago’s talented directing duo, Coodie and Chike (founders of Creative Control, directors of Kanye West’s “Thru the Wire,” Erykah Badu’s “Window Seat,” etc.) on a new interview series called “Portrait of My Life.”

For the first episode, Sha and Creative Control went out to South Jamaica, Queens to talk to Lloyd Banks on the very stoop where he wrote his first rhymes. In the clip above, Banks recalls 50 Cent’s phone call when his debut album The Hunger For More went number-one in 2004. But elsewhere in the interview, Banks walks Sha through his current mansion, in-house studio, and shows off his prized Pitfalls pitbulls. Banks shares the struggles that he and 50 Cent shared during their early lean years. And the two Queens-natives go back to the high school they both went to, August Martin H.S., to see how Banks has been commemorated with his own part of the school library.

Lloyd Banks’ new album, Hunger For More 2, drops next week.
Stay tuned for more of Banks x Shaheem’s “Portrait Of My Life.” (and congrats Sha and C x C on the new project!)