Layia Watkins (born June 11, 2004), known professionally as Lay Bankz, is an American singer from

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. After signing a record contract with Artist Partner Group (APG) in 2022, she released the singles "Left Cheek (Doo Doo Blick)", "Na Na Na" and "Ick" the following year. Her 2024 single, " Tell Ur Girlfriend" became popular 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 ...

and marked her first entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Life and career

Bankz was born Layia Watkins on June 11, 2004, in

, and raised in Southwest Philadelphia. She is of Eritrean descent from her mother's side and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

from her father's. She started writing raps at age 10 and released her first song, "Passion", in October 2019 when she was 15 years old. She signed to Artist Partner Group in 2022 and released her debut single with the label, "Left Cheek (Doo Doo Blick)", later that year. She was featured on the "dance mix" of

Ciara Ciara Princess Wilson ( ; Harris; born October 25, 1985) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, model and entrepreneur. She released her debut studio album, '' Goodies'' in 2004, which spawned four singles: " Goodies" (featuring Petey Pa ...

's song " Da Girls", released in May 2023. She also appeared on

NLE Choppa Bryson Lashun Potts (born November 1, 2002), known professionally as NLE Choppa (previously YNR Choppa), is an American rapper from Memphis, Tennessee. He rose to fame with his 2019 single " Shotta Flow", which was certified platinum by the RIAA ...

's song " It's Getting Hot" in July 2023. In August 2023, she released the single "Na Na Na". Both "Left Cheek (Doo Doo Blick)" and "Na Na Na" went viral on

. Her debut

extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

, ''Now You See Me'', was also released in August 2023. Her single "Ick" was released in September 2023 and also became popular on TikTok and on streaming services. She followed that success with "Tell Ur Girlfriend" in February 2024 which became her first song to chart in the US and multiple other countries aided by a viral dance trend. It followed her debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, ''

After 7 After 7 is an American R&B group founded in 1987 by brothers Melvin and Kevon Edmonds, and their friend Keith Mitchell. The Edmonds brothers are the older siblings of pop/R&B singer-songwriter and record producer Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, w ...

'', which was released in May 2024.

Musical style

Bankz has described her music as "every kind of genre you could ever think of". Kenyatta Victoria of '' Essence'' wrote that she "merges club and R&B music". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

''s Kyle Denis described it as Jersey club. '' Pitchfork''s H.D. Angel identified her music as East Coast club and pop rap, writing that her voice had an "elegant, almost synthetic quality" to it and that her instrumentals were "busy".

Discography

Studio albums

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'' , *Released: May 27, 2024 *Label: APG *Formats: Digital download,

streaming Streaming media is multimedia that is delivered and consumed in a continuous manner from a source, with little or no intermediate storage in network elements. ''Streaming'' refers to the delivery method of content, rather than the content it ...

! * Formats: digital download

Extended plays

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" ! scope="col" style="width:11em;" , Title ! scope="col" style="width:25em;" , Album details , - ! scope="row" , ''Now You See Me'' , *Released: August 9, 2023 *Label: APG *Formats: Digital download,

Singles

As lead artist

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! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;", US
R&B/HH
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! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;",

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! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;", NLD
! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;", NZ
! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;", UK
! scope="col" style="width:2.8em;font-size:90%;", WW
, - ! scope="row", "Passion" , 2019 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , rowspan="7" , - ! scope="row", "Can We Talk" , rowspan="2", 2020 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Fly" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "No Trippin" , rowspan="2", 2021 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Personal" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Anxious" , rowspan="5", 2022 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "In My Bag" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "IDFWY" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , ''Now You See Me'' , - ! scope="row", "Left Cheek (Doo Doo Blick)" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , rowspan="3" , - ! scope="row", "No More Crying"
, — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "I Deserve" , rowspan="11", 2023 , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Throw Dat" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , ''Now You See Me'' , - ! scope="row", " Da Girls" (Dance Mix)
, — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , - ! scope="row", "Na Na Na" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , ''Now You See Me'' , - ! scope="row", "Aint Mine"
, — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , rowspan="4" , - ! scope="row", "Woah"
, — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Reason" (Remix)
, — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Off the Wall" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", "Ick" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , ''Now You See Me'' , - ! scope="row", "Sloppy Seconds (Ick, Pt. 2)" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , rowspan="2" , - ! scope="row", "Girls Just Wanna" , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , , — , - ! scope="row", " Tell Ur Girlfriend" , 2024 , 58 , , 17 , , 26 , , 33 , , 16
, , 22 , , 19 , , 15 , , 40 , ''

As featured artist

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, rowspan="4", 2022 , rowspan="8" , - ! scope="row", "Mobbin"
, - ! scope="row", "Past Due"
, - ! scope="row", "Self Esteem"
, - ! scope="row", "Get Back"
, rowspan="4", 2023 , - ! scope="row", "Bad"
, - ! scope="row", "Just My Friend"
, - ! scope="row", "Nana vs. Dada"
, - ! scope="row", "Broke My Heart"
, 2024 , ''If This Is Love, I Want A Refund''

References

{{reflist 2004 births Living people Alternative R&B musicians American women hip hop singers Rappers from Philadelphia Trap musicians Singers from Philadelphia 21st-century American women rappers 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American women singers American contemporary R&B singers American TikTokers