The Next Lady Up?

1.12.21

@realericabanks

The females in hip-hop continue to shake up the game. What was once an industry ran by one single female, is now a surplus of talent, and they are absolutely crushing it. One that we have discussed in the past whom may have been overlooked by those who came before her, has officially blown up over night on Tik Tok, and now may have what she needs to keep up the tempo and energy of the successful group of females in hip-hop. Erica Banks is up next.

Erica Banks is a Dallas artist signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment. This is the same label that Megan Thee Stallion is a part of, and had some serious issues with when they would not let her release her album when she had felt was time. They ended up going to court, and Megan ended up releasing the project, Suga. The project peaked at number 7 on the US Billboard Top 200 albums, which is a great accomplishment. I do feel that this project had a lot of room for improvements, and could have done much better than this had she heard out the label and made some adjustments. To shed some facts into this opinion, Good News debuted at number one and more than doubled the sales of Suga in the first week.

The point of the story is not necessarily to listen to your label, but how many took the news of the new female signee. Erica Banks started to get a lot of buzz when she freestyled over a 50 Cent sample. The sample was from In My Car, back in 2005, however if you are searching on YouTube, it is called the Need It Freestyle, as Migos and NBA YoungBoy used the sample in their hit single Need It, just a few weeks prior to her dropping the freestyle. People were instantly comparing Erica and Megan, saying that 1501 Certified were attempting to replace Megan. At this current point in time, I will say that Megan is not replaceable. But at the same time, now more than ever, there is plenty of room for females in hip-hop. Even if they are from the same city.

I would say the way the world works and people Stan their favorites so hard, people overlooked Erica from the beginning because of their love for Megan. It is simply not okay to do this, just by listening to a freestyle or hearing old tracks from Erica, because at this time, she does not have people mixing and mastering to the level of Megan’s hit singles that are being played on the radio. Quite frankly, if you go back and listen to Megan’s freestyles, Erica has a bit more rhythm and flow to her message. But soon, she would put out an album, as well.

The timing could not be more perfect for Erica Banks to drop her album, as she is beginning to get a bit of buzz. It is safe to say, this album did not do much last summer when it was released. However, over the weekend Tik Tok has brought Erica Banks to power, after finding her track Buss It, from the album that dates back to June 19th, 2020. The track features Nelly’s line from Hot In Herre, saying “Checking your reflection and telling your best friend, girl I think my butt getting big.” Then, the song cuts to Erica’s chorus Buss It. In the challenge, girls are in their loungewear, no makeup, etc. during Nelly’s part, then when the bass drops, the video transitions into the girls all done up and doing their best moves.

Tik Tok is key to going viral, and boy did this one get picked up. Girls everywhere are participating in the challenge, including celebrities and hip-hop artists alike, such as Rico Nasty, Joseline, Gabrielle Union and even Nelly’s current girlfriend, Shantel Jackson. Nelly shared Shantel’s version of the challenge on his page, showing his approval of noise and attention this is getting.

Okay, so Erica had one song go viral on Tik Tok six months after it’s release, now what? Well, she seems ready to make some serious moves. First, Erica has done a great job expanding the hype about the challenge, and interacting with her fans by reposting all those that participate in the challenge on her page. This is smart to grow her following and get people to recognize her name. With just 184K Instagram followers, she is growing, but there is a long way to go. Erica mentioned her team was clearing out her Instagram page, from people she follows to older posts, so you know she is expecting a blow up moment. One of the biggest things, is that just a few days ago, Erica signed a deal with Warner Records. 1501 Certified is an independent label that has clearly done a great job getting work off of the ground, but now Warner Brothers can really take Erica to new heights.

What I really love about Erica Banks is her versatility. I feel strongly that many people like her, that go from free styling and rapping to trying to be more pop, just end up falling flat. Or, they are only good at being nasty on the track, but can never have a real conversation or telling a genuine story on a song. This what Cardi B knew she had to do on Invasion of Privacy, and it worked. This is what Mulatto did on Queen of the Souf, and she blew up. The trap songs and the nasty songs are the most fun, of course, but they have been done before by every lady before you, so you need a different angle to be able to connect to consumers, as well. I believe that Erica has this, from her recent project, and she also explains that in a recent Bossip interview.

“Some of my music is rough but classy. Some days I make trap music. Some days I make love music. Some of it is flat out nasty,” she points out. “I do everything. I’m versatile. To put it plain and simple, I make turn-up music.”

To me, this is what makes a great artists, and gives them longevity. It will help them appeal to the masses, and also open up a versatile list of artists for the potential of collaboration.

Erica Banks and Yella Beezy have each shared photos with one another recently, so it looks like we should be receiving some new music from these two Dallas Texans, very soon.

I for one, am completely here for the rise and success of Erica Banks (and this Texas duo). I will call that she is up next.