Dallas, Texas rapper Erica Banks is starting 2021 off by handling her business. Erica, who is signed to Carl Crawford’s 1501 Certified Entertainment imprint, just earned a distribution deal with Warner Records.
Over the past few weeks, her hit single “Buss It” has gone viral on TikTok and Instagram, and in the process, spawned a celebrity challenge which has caught fire across the internet.
During a sit-down with AllHipHop, Erica talked about her music, her come up and career being compared to Megan Thee Stallion, who also got her start on 1501 Certified Entertainment.
AllHipHop: Tell us a little bit about who you are and what defines Erica Banks.
Erica Banks: For those of you who don’t know, I am Erica banks. And I think the best way to describe Erica Banks is just a turnt up, unapologetic artist. This is my third year rapping, third-year recording, so I’m pretty new to everything. But it’s been a breeze so far.
AllHipHop: So tell us about some of your influences. You have a very Southern, Midwest kind of thing going on. Tell us a little bit about that.
Erica Banks: My influences would definitely be Nicki Minaj and Missy Elliott. I was really big on them growing up as a kid, I was a barb and everything during that era. So just seeing them do what they do on TV and me being a kid, it was really fascinating. And they were just my biggest experiences they made me wanted to rap.
AllHipHop: Do you feel like your sound is specific to where you’re from? There are some people who say you kind of have a piggybacked off of Megan, but others say that’s just the Midwest sound.
Erica Banks: It’s definitely where I’m from. I just have a southern sound or an accent. It just comes from us being from the same area. And that’s where a lot of people get the whole “Oh, she sounds like Megan.” We do sound similar in the way that we say things, however, we don’t sound like identical twins.
AllHipHop: Right? That’s like a Brooklyn accent.
Erica Banks: Yeah.
AllHipHop: How did you meet Carl Crawford and 1501 Certified Entertainment?
Erica Banks: It was actually on Instagram Live. Carl was on live. And I joined the Live. And at the time, people were submitting music and he was giving them feedback. And I decided to submit my music in hopes that he would come across it and he did. So he played my song online and gave me some great feedback. Two weeks after that, he reached out to me personally in regards to me joining the team. And you know, I was interested.
AllHipHop: Wow. So what has the experience been like? so far? Seems like you have a really big buzz, tell us about the experience of joining on board, fresh off of the very public breakup between him and Megan thee Stallion.
Erica Banks: It’s crazy in a good way. Things are starting to change for me, things are starting to get a lot busier, a lot more intense. Now I have a schedule. And before I didn’t have a schedule. So now I have a list of things to do every single day. But it is fun. You know, it keeps me occupied and busy. I’m always doing something. So it’s definitely something that I’m enjoying.
AllHipHop: Is there any pressure coming after someone else who’s had so much success? Do you feel any discomfort with people possibly comparing you and whether or not you’re going to measure up to the same level of success?
Erica Banks: I don’t worry about that just because I know what I’m capable of as an artist. And I have a lot that you know, I’m going to accomplish so I don’t ever worry about, “Oh, am I gonna be able to do what this person did or what that person did” because I’m more than sure that I’ll be able to do, if not more than what some of these people did definitely be able to do what they’ve done.
AllHipHop: So tell us what else is going on? What’s new, what can we expect coming from you?
Erica Banks: I put out my tape. So if you have not checked it out, go check it out. I actually just dropped two videos. “Buss It” and “All of These Hoes.” Both songs are on the tape. So I have more music videos coming, I have shows coming, and meet and greets, but we have to keep that to a minimum due to the pandemic. But when the world does open back up I’ll definitely start having events, shows, things that people can physically come to.
AllHipHop: Any dream collaborations?
Erica Banks: Yes, Dream collaboration would definitely be Nicki Minaj, Future, I love Future, and Missy Elliott.
AllHipHop: In the sea of so many female rappers, what do you think you bring to the table that’s different than other female rappers?
Erica Banks: I’m definitely bringing versatility to the table. And when I say versatility, I’m speaking on singing, I’m speaking on storytelling, I’m speaking on turn up of music. I don’t just make one type of music. If you just really didn’t listen to my catalog, I have a little bit of everything. So I feel like what I’m able to bring to the table is versatility. And I’m able to give you whatever, you know, not just rap or not just turn up.
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