''Banco'' is the 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 ...

by American rapper

Sir Michael Rocks Antoine Reed (born December 24, 1987) is an American rapper better known by his stage name Sir Michael Rocks (or Mikey Rocks). He started his music career in 2005 as a member of the hip hop duo The Cool Kids, and later joined the groups All City ...

. The album was released on July 29, 2014, by 6 Cell Phones. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other p ...

s from

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (formerly Tung Twista), is an American rapper and record producer. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the t ...

Casey Veggies Casey Joseph Jones (born July 18, 1993), better known by his stage name Casey Veggies, is an American rapper and songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Since 2007, he has released five independent mixtapes under LA clothing and management comp ...

Iamsu! Sudan Ameer Williams (born November 16, 1989), better known by his stage name Iamsu! (stylized as IamSu! or IAMSU!), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is also a part of the production team The Invasion and lead ...

, Robb Banks,

Pouya Kevin Pouya (born December 20, 1994), known mononymously as Pouya, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. Considered as a pioneer of the early underground rap scene that began on SoundCloud in 2012, along with discovering the well known hi ...

Mac Miller Malcolm James McCormick (January 19, 1992 – September 7, 2018), known professionally as Mac Miller, was an American rapper and record producer. Miller began his career in Pittsburgh's hip hop scene in 2007, at the age of fifteen. In 2010, h ...

Trinidad James Nicholaus Joseph Williams (born September 24, 1987), better known by his stage name Trinidad James (often stylized as Trinidad Jame$), is a Trinidadian-American rapper. In 2012, he signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings. The label d ...

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) *Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Amer ...

and

Chuck Inglish Evan Ingersoll (born October 7, 1984), better known by his stage name Chuck Inglish, is an American rapper, producer and songwriter most known for being part of the hip hop duo The Cool Kids with Sir Michael Rocks. His debut album ''Convertibles ...

Background

In a July 2014, interview with ''Nah Right'' he spoke about how he chose the features for the album, saying: "Well, the way I go about picking features, I always try to pick people that are going to add something to the song who would serve a necessary purpose on this song. I don’t ever take a feature because so-and-so is hot or I need to get with ‘em. It doesn’t even work like that. Niggas don’t even give me features like that. I’m definitely not about to do that. I just pick people who serve a purpose on a song and make the song better, and some people are friends of mine and people I admire and respect, so I just pick people who make the song better and serve a purpose on it."

Release and promotion

On December 17, 2013, the album's first single "Memo" was released. On January 14, 2014, the music video was released for "Memo". On June 19, 2014, the music video was released for "Playstation 1.5". On July 15, 2014, the music video was released for "Fuck SeaWorld". On July 23, 2014, the music video was released for "Bussin'" featuring

and

Critical response

''Banco'' was met with generally positive reviews from

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

s. Jesse Fairfax of

HipHopDX ''HipHopDX'' is an online magazine of hip hop music criticism and news. The website's current president and publisher is Sharath Cherian and the Head Of Content is Jerry L. Barrow. ''HipHopDX'' is the flagship publication of Cheri Media Group. ...

stated "The choice of shrouding his trademark oddity in stock cuts and sheer confidence is a curious one, but ''Banco'' remains entertaining for the most part." Erin Lowers of ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'' said, "While the definitive setting of ''Banco'' is Chi-Town's disruptive powers and anger, Mikey Rocks brings forth the warming soul that soothes it. Having already established a career within the boom-bap realm, Sir Michael Rock's reinvention as a solo artist rips apart the blueprints he once laid and sets a foundation that may lead straight to el ''Banco''." Michael Blair of '' XXL'' stated, "There are undeniable moments of prosperity within ''Banco'', and it’s impossible to not vibe with Sir Michael for owning his lyrical distinction as confident as he does his luxurious wardrobe. But upon completion of the album, ''Banco'' unquestionably leaves the listener yearning for a certain type of production that more appropriately suits his lyrical capacity." Adam Kivel of

Consequence of Sound ''Consequence'' (previously ''Consequence of Sound'') is an independently owned New York-based online magazine featuring news, editorials, and reviews of music, movies, and television. In addition, the website also features the Festival Outlook ...

said, "Though elements of it seem somewhat unconnected, ''Banco'' should go a long way towards making the solo stuff just as much of a hot commodity."

Track listing

Charts

References

{{Authority control 2014 debut albums Albums produced by DJ Mustard Albums produced by Mac Miller