Who’s REALLY Better: Fabolous or Lloyd Banks? Tony Yayo Reignites The Debate

The Fabolous vs Lloyd Banks debate is back! After Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda appeared on The Breakfast Club and Flagrant 2, the conversation about who’s the better rapper has reignited across hip-hop.

On this episode of Perfect Talk Podcast, we break down the arguments, compare lyricism, mixtape runs, commercial success, punchlines, longevity, and cultural impact. Is it Banks’ raw bars and G-Unit dominance? Or Fab’s smooth flow and hit-making consistency?

We give our honest take and settle the debate — at least from our side.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_05 0:00

Objective. But I feel Banks is better. A lot of his biggest records are features. A lot of banks make up records he wrote by himself. Right. Banks Banks take the catalog. We were the hottest in the trade. And the reason why I give you the examples. Because Fab was on our tour, buddy. And Fab wanted to sign with us, buddy.

SPEAKER_03 0:24

So who's better?

SPEAKER_02 0:28

Lloyd Banks versus Fabulous popping up in 2026. What the hell's going on? But uh Uncle Murder and um Tony Yeo have a new podcast coming out. Uh the name escapes me at the moment, but I'll I'm sure we'll put something on the screen to let y'all know what's going on with that. Um, and they were on The Breakfast Club, you know what I'm saying, stirring up trouble, going viral the way that they should. And somehow the uh Lloyd Banks versus Fabulous debate came up.

SPEAKER_04 0:54

That is a good conversation. Because I always like to I'm going with banks. But I always looked at banks as being fabulous. I'm going with Lloyd Banks right now. Yeah, you're going with banks. And I'm gonna tell you why.

SPEAKER_05 1:04

Banks about to go on tour right now. Out the country. Who else is going on tour? What are we talking about? Like banks that showed. I can see banks on the road all the time. But he's about to go overseas right now. He's talking about Gary and all that. And lyrical, let me ask you, Murder. They be hating on Banks. Banks are nobody. Who's better when they when they're all friends with Fab? Not saying Fab ain't nice. It's debatable, but I I'm going with Banks. Murder.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Um and Yeo, you know, loyalists, uh, said he's gotta go with Lloyd Banks. And he actually didn't even really want to care what anyone else's opinions are because he's like, y'all all friends with Fabulous. He's like, I'm gonna go with Lloyd Banks. And the reason he brought up was um Lloyd Banks tours very heavy worldwide. Um and he doesn't believe Fabulous can go tour uh as heavy as Lloyd Banks does worldwide. And I give that comment a little more credit than I would normally, it sounds like someone just caving up for their homeboy, but I've heard DJs that travel heavy, say they run into Lloyd Banks at the airport all the time, right? And if you really think about it, if he went on world tours with 50 cents, that's what I was that's where he got that exposure from. So then and the the the G unit hype is still exists to this day. Oh wow. Yeah, exactly. So it would only be, it wouldn't, it would he would have to be like the worst businessman ever. Lloyd Banks is quiet, but he's not stupid. And he definitely, you know what I'm saying, turned that into nice. Yeah, nice.

SPEAKER_01 2:29

Now, if you want to break down bar, like I would I would put them on equal scale just in in terms of like spitting bars, like they're both nasty.

SPEAKER_02 2:37

Yeah, but if you want to talk about I mean Well, the argument for Fabulous was commercial success, right? Like you could say, well, Fabulous has a song with Tamia, which is huge, right? He got the song with um uh uh Holla Back, Young, all that shit that came out on his first album. Then he's even got features, he's on Diddy songs, you know what I'm saying? He's got the song with Neo. And it's a little harder to name some Lloyd Banks singles that might have been that big on fire, you know what I'm saying? Maybe, but it doesn't mean they're not great songs or great um even just lyrics, just didn't have the commercial success, right? Like I saw a video today, uh, can I pull it up? I saw a video today that was like it was a uh Fat Man School talking to DMX.

unknown 3:24

Wait, wait, wait, wait.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

So he's just going through name and lyrics, right? It's like did I stun her?

SPEAKER_03 3:29

Did now DMX give me two give me two off That's the that's the that's the barbershop though distraction argument.

SPEAKER_02 4:13

Cause like we're talking lyricists, right? I guess DMX said it the best because he said bars, but like that's what Jim Jones did with Pusha T. He when he was at the Breakfast Club, and that's what started their whole little thing where he was like, he's like name name four push a tea songs. He's like, go ahead and like name it right now. How does that mean Pusha T's not nice? Because I don't because I can't think four songs off the top of my head, you know what I'm saying? That to me just means you don't have commercial, the same commercial success. Like, don't take away from your niceness. If anything, the nicest dudes aren't commercially successful, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 4:44

So I but that's that's because I wouldn't be able to name four push of tea songs off the top of my head. Um, but you know he's one of the nicest. I would back, I would say he's one of the nicest.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

Like even I'll take a Kendrick Lamar. I don't listen to that much Kendrick Lamar music. It's not my go-to music in the gym. Don't mean Kendrick Lamar is not nice, and don't mean I don't listen to some of his stuff either. But if you were like, yo, name your favorite Kendrick Lamar songs, it might take me a little second to make that list. I might have to look through a playlist or two to pick it out. And it's not just automatically gonna come off the top of the head whereas But you know how nasty he is. But name your favorite Jay-Z songs. Yeah, well, I spent hours listening to Jay-Z. Say your favorite DMX. Yes, this was I was a high schooler. I was on a bus. You know what I'm saying? Just listen to hours and hours of this stuff. So it's like it it I don't want to take the argument there, you know what I'm saying? So like, what I mean, but you sound like you want to give them equal, equal footing. It sounds like you don't have to.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

In terms of lyricism, like they're they're listening to their era of music. I would, you know. Um yeah, so then I don't I don't even know because if you were say, okay, who's the biggest star? I mean, I don't know. I mean, obviously, if if Lloyd Banks is touring overseas, I mean that I would like to say that says it all. I'm sure Fabulous does shows in the States. Um But does touring overseas even make you a biggest star?

SPEAKER_02 6:07

Because like, there's an argument, right? I was still talking to this dude, it's crazy. I walked into a this family down here, the Wu Chang hat on. And um, I was like, you know, Wu Chang clan they done the F with. He was like, Yeah, yeah, they still and they still doing it. And I was like, You're right, you're right. And he was like, he thought I was talking about underground music, right? And he goes, Yeah, you know, like they they do a lot of underground shit. I'm like, Ghost, Ghostface, Raekwon, they signed the Nines on Mass Appeal, you know what I'm saying? They still doing commercial stuff, and then but he started saying, like, like Jizer and a lot of the other ones, they they do, you know, under they do shows, they do battoring. So I can imagine where like maybe a lesser-known, if we're just gonna keep it in Wu-Tang, a lesser-known Wu-Tang member could be in Ireland, he could be in London, he could be trying to be.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

I heard like the bag overseas is be crazy.

SPEAKER_02 6:51

No, no, no, yeah, 100%. Yeah, but I don't know if that makes you a bigger artist. It makes you uh you have a wider net, you know what I'm saying? But I don't know, because some people, because there's people who are big outside of America who just want to blow up in America. You know, they're huge outside of America, you know what I'm saying? They got fans in Africa, fans in London, but they like they know when they get that American success, that's the the spike. So, you know what I'm saying? Some people, and I'm sure Fabulous doesn't have to necessarily work because maybe he made a lot of money off the commercial success of songs. You know what I'm saying? So I don't know his. But you know what I'm saying? Like I would put them in the same boat. Like they're both. You don't have you don't have a preference, like, because you you listen to both artists. Yeah, you don't have a preference, or they won't they song come on, you rock into it.

SPEAKER_00 7:33

Yeah, I mean, for yeah, I would say so.

SPEAKER_02 7:35

They got a song together too, right? On Lloyd Banks album, uh, if I'm not mistaken, I think Fabulous. Yeah, I don't know. I'm gonna say Swiss Beast did it too. Oh shit, now you gotta think about it. Hold on, Lloyd Banks.

SPEAKER_00 7:46

Certainly, one artist ain't better than the other when it comes to them two.

SPEAKER_02 7:51

Started up.

SPEAKER_00 7:52

Oh, okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

Which is on a Lloyd Banks album, you know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00 7:56

And then I the other thing I hate about this is that came out when we was in uh like 05. I think it came out.

SPEAKER_02 8:04

I remember playing it at a strip club party, and it got I think you and Keith might have came in Newburgh. And I remember playing it and it got a big like reaction. So it must have been, I don't know, I don't think it was an even a new song at that point.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

No, I couldn't have been. We was graduating soon. You may have just graduated.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Okay. Nah, it was um, it was a banger. Like so, you know what I mean? They held they and I can't think even from that song, like one held it down harder than the other. You know what I'm saying? So we gonna we see what it is. Thank you for checking out this short clip with a perfect talk podcast. Make sure you like, subscribe, put those comments in people. Let us know what you're thinking. Also, check out the website perfecttalkpodcast.com for everything perfect talk podcast. Peace. Peace.