Erica Banks is an American rapper born and raised in DeSoto, Texas. Following the release of her first three mixtapes, she signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment, who released her self-titled mixtape in June 2020. It spawned her first charting single, "

Buss It "Buss It" is a song recorded by American rapper Erica Banks. Written by Banks and produced by Sgt. J, the song was released on May 15, 2020, through 1501 Certified Entertainment and later through Warner Records as the lead single from Banks's se ...

", which went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

. In January 2021, she signed to

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

, on which "Buss It" was reissued.

Early life

Banks was born and raised in

DeSoto, Texas DeSoto is a city in Dallas County, Texas, in the United States. DeSoto is a suburb of Dallas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, and Lancaster. History The area was first settled in 1847, ...

. At the age of 12, she began writing poetry, winning several school contests, and started rapping in high school. While attending

Texas A&M University–Commerce Texas A&M University–Commerce is a public university in Commerce, Texas. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in the Texas A&M University System. Founded in 1889, the inst ...

as a nursing student, she recorded her first songs, leading to her to decide to drop out during her sophomore year to pursue her music career.

Career

In 2018, Banks released her first single, titled "Talk My Shit" independently through

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

. On March 17, 2019, Banks subsequently self-released her first official mixtape, titled ''Art of the Hustle''. In April 2019, she signed with 1501 Certified Entertainment after playing a snippet of her song "

" for the label's CEO, American former baseball player

Carl Crawford Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "The Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

, in an

Instagram Live Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can be ...

video. Despite after signing with 1501 Certified, two of her mixtapes ''Pressure'' and ''Cocky on Purpose'' were subsequently self-released between June and November of that year. On June 19, 2020, Banks released her self-titled fourth mixtape through 1501 Certified. The mixtape spawned the singles, including a full version of the song "Buss It", and "Give Me That", the former of which became Banks's breakout song in January 2021 after becoming the subject of a viral trend on the video-sharing platform

, giving her her first entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. In that same month, she signed a record deal with

. Later in that same month, she was featured on American rapper

Yella Beezy Markies Deandre Conway (born October 21, 1991), known by the stage name Yella Beezy, is an American rapper from Dallas, Texas. He is best known for the singles " That's On Me", "Bacc At It Again", "Up One", and "Goin Through Some Thangs". Earl ...

's single "Star".

Artistry

Banks has listed rappers

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette Elliott (born July 1, 1971), better known as Missy Elliott or Missy “Misdemeanor” Elliot, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She embarked on her music career with R&B girl group Sista in the earl ...

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper and reality television personality. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, she lived much of he ...

, and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated flow in her rapping, alter egos and accent ...

among her musical inspirations, and

Asian Doll Misharron Jermeisha Allen (born December 7, 1996), better known as Asian Doll, Asian Da Brat, or simply Asian, is an American rapper. A Dallas native, she was the first female artist signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Eskimo Records. Early life A ...

as an influence for music and image. Musically, she has been compared by fans to American rapper

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion (pronounced "Megan the Stallion"), is an American rapper and songwriter. Originally from Houston, Texas, she first garnered attention when videos of her ...

and Ti from the

Taylor Girlz Taylor Girlz are an American rap-dance-R&B musical trio consisting of sister rappers Daysha Taylor (born December 25, 1995) and Ti Taylor (born August 7, 1998 in Alabama), and dancer-choreographer Tiny. Raised in Atlanta, the Taylor sisters were ...

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Erica Living people 1998 births People from DeSoto, Texas 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American women musicians Rappers from Dallas African-American women rappers Warner Records artists 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American musicians 21st-century women rappers