FEATURE:
Spotlight
Lay Bankz
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A native of Philadelphia…
that you should definitely know about, Lay Bankz is someone who I am new to but instantly bonded with. There is not a lot of press around her so far this year. I will go back to last year and quote from a few interviews. Her latest album, After 7, was released last May and received a lot of acclaim and love. This year she has already released incredible cuts such as Graveyard. One of the most promising voices in Hip-Hop at the moment, I am going to start with an interview from XXL Mag:
“NOTABLE RELEASES: Songs: “Na Na Na,” “Ick,” “Sloppy Seconds (Ick Pt. 2),” “Tell Ur Girlfriend”; EP: Now You See Me ; Project: After 7 ; Guest Appearances: Ciara’s “Da Girls (Dance Mix),” Kyle’s “Woah,” Bandmanrill’s “Piano”
LABEL: Artist Partner Group
CURRENTLY WORKING ON: Untitled project dropping later this year.
WHO ELSE SHOULD BE PART OF THIS YEAR'S CLASS: “Karrahbooo. Anycia. I think both of them are really talented. They be on some cool sh*t, and I’ve really been on that chill music vibe, recently. The Detroit chill vibe. So, yeah, I think they should have made it. I think they would have killed sh*t.”
INFLUENCED BY: “Lauryn Hill, if we’re talking about hip-hop music. Lauryn Hill is just amazing. Like, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I’ve been listening to it for, like, two months straight now, back-to-back. Missy Elliott is just dope all across the board. Her music is very artsy, and I feel like I have an artsy style of music. And, yeah, just the crazy ad-libs and the crazy sounds when they come on, it’s just very captivating.
Beyoncé ’cause she’s just an amazing performer. She’s an amazing artist. Just the development of her career. I’ve been a Beyoncé fan since the beginning of my life. Aaliyah. I think her style and just how sweet of a girl she was, just very inspirational.”
AS A FRESHMAN IN HIGH SCHOOL: “I was the cool kid. I was funny. I was quirky. I loved anime. I still do love anime. I skateboarded. I was in musical theater, and I’ve been a singer. The artsy, fun girl. I was just having fun, experimenting, trying sh*t and just being myself.”
TRUTH ON BEING AN XXL FRESHMAN: “I seen me on the fake list and I was like, No, no, no. If I made a fake list, I gotta be on a real list. I called my team and I’m like, ‘Yo, did y’all see this?’ I said to the group chat and like, ‘Is this real?’ And they’re like, ‘Well, no, the list is fake, but you did make it this year.’ I’m like, ‘Yo, that is f**king crazy.’
I started [paying attention to the Freshman Class] probably when I was like 12 or 13. Around that time, Lil Uzi Vert and PnB Rock came out. That class was what really opened me up. Five years ago, I started making music and I started wanting to be a Freshman. If you’re not a Freshman, what are you doing?
It’s time for me to be in people’s faces and show them who I am along with the music. I think that everybody has their own sense of individuality, but mine stands out in my own way because of what I do. I dance, I sing, I rap, I write. And I’m just original with doing it. I freestyle in the booth, I produce.
[When the cover is released, I’ll] probably turn up with my girls, my family. I gotta turn up with my team, too, because I wouldn’t be this far without them. I think [my fans are] gonna be hyped. You come with a look, you take the picture for the cover, then you do the freestyle. And the freestyle is really the build-up moment. But I think the cypher is like, this is how I’m coming. I feel like this is gonna open the door for the hip-hop world for me. I feel like the hip-hop world knows me, but after this, they’re gonna really know me.”—As told to Bianca Torres.
Lay Bankz is a playful amalgam of what hip-hop looks like in 2024. A confident rapper who sings, dances, and has the kind of zeal that leads to superstardom. She's a bit spicy, too; don't sleep on her clap-back game. And she does it all with that Cheshire Cat-like smile that lights up a room. While TikTok can get a bad rap for making artists popular that don't necessarily deserve the acclaim, the 20-year-old Philadelphia native has used the platform to her advantage by showcasing her personality in myriad ways. The songs that got her noticed—"Left Cheek (Doo Doo Blick)," "Na Na Na" and "Tell Ur Girlfriend"—are full of the lively lyrics and upbeat energy that complement her spirit. But she does things a little differently for her 2024 XXL Freshman freestyle by bringing her serious side to light.
"Lately, it's been a lot on my mind," Lay expresses in the video below. "Fighting battles internal inside/There be some days I can't talk to my mom/’Cause I'm dealing with so many feelings and really I'm feeling like I should unwind/And just speak on the thoughts that I bury, like if I don't make it at least I was trying."
The rising rhymer, whose signed to Artist Partner Group, puts her struggles out in the open. From burying loved ones to pulling back on unfulfilled dreams, Lay keeps it real on what she's going through. "I can't give in, I can't give out/And when the pressure caving in, I make some diamonds out of dirt/Ghetto angels protecting me from sin, but I buried some bodies and it hurt/Have you ever been f**ked up, that's the worst/All the sh*t I'm accomplishin' my first/I was doin' the most to get close to my dreams and abandonin' hope ’cause it don't work."
She even switches up her flow, giving more life to her bars: "Bad grades now they on to me, city hated me now they all proud of me/And the music kept a smile on me/But the industry fake, they lied to me."
Lay Bankz takes a page from one of her inspirations with these rhymes. "Lauryn Hill, if we’re talking about hip-hop music," she shares of artists she's influenced by. "Lauryn Hill is just amazing. Like, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I’ve been listening to it for, like, two months straight now, back-to-back. Missy Elliott is just dope all across the board. Her music is very artsy, and I feel like I have an artsy style of music. And, yeah, just the crazy ad-libs and the crazy sounds when they come on, it’s just very captivating."
Singers also play a part in Lay's artistry. "Beyoncé ’cause she’s just an amazing performer," Lay says. "She's an amazing artist. Just the development of her career. I’ve been a Beyoncé fan since the beginning of my life. Aaliyah. I think her style and just how sweet of a girl she was, just very inspirational."
But don't get it twisted; she's doing it all in her own way. "It's time for me to be in people's faces and show them who I am along with the music," she maintains. "I think that everybody has their own sense of individuality, but mine stands out in my own way because of what I do. I dance, I sing, I rap, I write. And I'm just original with doing it. I freestyle in the booth, I produce”.
I am going to move to Billboard. This phenomenal talent discussed taking notes from Beyoncé and repping Eritrea. She also reflected on the success of Tell Ur Girlfriend and how that has gained this huge traction and loving fanbase. I am new to her music but it has been really interesting finding out more about her. Someone that I hope spends some time in the U.K. soon enough:
“At just 19 years old, the Philly native is part of a generation that’s acutely aware of how they are perceived. Thanks to social media, they hear – and sometimes internalize – every last compliment and piece of criticism. But it takes an artist like Lay Bankz to harness the beast that is the Internet, and transform it into a self-promotional tool to fully realize her childhood dreams.
“I’ve always known this is what I wanted to do since I was a baby, and everybody around me can vouch for that,” she says over Zoom. “I’ve been doing this my whole life. This is nothing new. I played the violin, I played piano, I was in orchestra, I was in vocal [lessons], I did musical theater, I took poem classes and I learned how to write poems and write raps. I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”
Before the sugary ‘00s-indebted “Tell Ur Girlfriend” conquered TikTok and became her first Billboard Hot 100 entry (No. 58), Bankz’s “Ick” took the Internet by storm – for better and for worse. Despite vocal critics deriding the lyrics and sound, as well as her hip-rocking Jersey club-inspired dance moves in the accompanying music video, “Ick” became the soundtrack to over 200,000 TikToks, reaching No. 8 on the TikTok Billboard Top 50 and earning 73.1 million official on-demand U.S. streams, according to Luminate.
“Ick” followed a string of smaller regional hits that flaunted Bankz’s versatility, and its success even landed her a surprise performance at Houston rapper Monaleo’s 2023 tour, during which the headliner brought out Bankz alongside fellow ascendant female rappers Cleotrapa, Maiya the Don and Connie Diiamond to perform their respective hits during her Brooklyn stop. Bankz’s performance of “Ick” was electrifying; if people weren’t convinced of her star power before, her seemingly effortless balance in spitting verses and executing full-body choreography certainly changed their minds.
A gifted rapper and singer, Bankz’s growing catalog pulls from myriad genres and influences, but R&B and hip-hop — by way of ‘00s heavyweights like Beyoncé, Ye (fka Kanye West) and Brandy – reign supreme. Those influences shine through on “Tell Ur Girlfriend,” which leveraged its Timbaland-nodding production to success beyond TikTok, landing on additional Billboard rankings such as Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (No. 17), R&B/Hip-Hop Streaming Songs (No. 10) and Hot Rap Songs (No. 14). “Girlfriend” has logged 53.4 million on-demand official U.S. streams since its Feb. 7 release.
Between her live performance abilities, her ear for melody, her innate understanding of how to most effectively use the Internet and a support system in Artist Partner Group (APG) and manager Kenney Blake – whom she connected with after he challenged her to sing on the spot in front of a crowded barbershop — Bankz has collected practically every infinity stone necessary to ensure that she’s “here for a good time and a long time.”
Billboard spoke with May’s R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Month about her “messy” relationship with music, putting on for the Eritrean girlies, and her favorite songs from the Kendrick Lamar–Drake beef.
Walk me through how you created “Tell Ur Girlfriend.”
I make songs based off of real-life experiences and “Tell Ur Girlfriend” is truthfully something that I went through. At the time, I knew what I was going through, but I didn’t have a song for it, and I feel like I have a song for everything at this point. Well, at least I’ve made a song for everything. I walked in the studio with Johnny Goldstein and Ink – a dope producer and a dope writer — and I told both of them, “Yo, I had this idea!” Johnny played me the chords for “Tell Your Girlfriend,” but there weren’t any drums.
I’m like, “I want to talk about how I’m feeling right now, and I basically sat there with Ink and Johnny for two hours before we made the song and I broke down the situation that I was going through. We were sitting there like, Alright bet like this is what we’re going to talk about.
I got on the mic, freestyled some melodies, came up with some things that I liked and then [Ink] helped me write some lyrics and piece together the hook. I freestyled verses, so I just went in and said how I felt. I actually had to re-record [the song] from the first time I recorded it because I felt like some things needed to be changed to make it a little more truthful. It was probably a two-week process to get this song where I really wanted it to be, but I actually recorded [it] two months before I dropped it.
You really do tend to eclipse your big moments with even bigger ones, even when you were gaining traction online as a personality. How do you think you’ve used the Internet to your advantage?
I think the Internet is a playground, and it makes everything easier to market yourself if you use it the right way. [It’s] a gift and a curse, because without it, I think we would be back in the old times where star quality was higher — like Michael Jackson star quality, where people faint when they see artists. Stuff like that doesn’t happen anymore, because if someone wants to see you, they could just see you on their cell phones. And there’s beauty in that. There’s also a downside to it, but it’s really been the easiest way [for me] to promote myself. I control my social media narrative, and nobody could convince me otherwise.
Has your relationship with the Internet evolved in light of your recent success?
Honestly, I don’t find it stressful now. I think when I first started, it was more stressful, because I wasn’t used to all the attention and people commenting on my everyday life, how I look, how I dress and what I do. Then again, I’m from Philly, so people judge you by everything and that’s just how we are here. I got a tougher skin.
The Internet really can’t get to me, because at the end of the day, don’t none of these people know me in real life. All y’all doing is streaming my music and that’s helping me. I learned that [by] being yourself unapologetically, you’re going to be more happy than trying to please a bunch of people on the Internet who don’t know you anyway.
You mentioned growing up in Philly, which, of course, has its own lit music scene. What are your earliest musical memories of your hometown and what from Philly do you want to carry with you throughout your career?
My earliest memory of music is probably being in the car with my mom on our way to daycare. We would listen to albums on top of albums early in the morning because she worked outside of the city. She wanted me to go to this really good daycare, so we used to drive 45 minutes outside the city every morning. I remember her playing a bunch of Beyoncé, and that’s one of the reasons why Beyoncé is one of my favorites. We listened to Keyshia Cole a lot, Sevyn Streeter, a lot of what was popping in the early 2000s.
What I want to take with me from the music scene from Philly is that authenticity, never losing sight of who I truly am. Everybody from Philly is truly unique, and I think growing up in such a nitty-gritty city, if you’re not yourself, they’ll knock you down for not being yourself and they gon’ try and say you trying to be like somebody else. I’d die before I try to be like anybody else and I mean it.
You’re also putting on for the Eritrean girlies. What does it mean to you to be able to pursue your dreams to this extent, while still honoring all the different parts of your identity?
I think it’s amazing because there’s not that many of us — Habesha, Eritrean, Ethiopian people – in the industry. Putting on for Eritrea and letting people know, Hey, this is a country! This is where I’m from, what I grew up eating, what I grew up learning, this is my second language, this is a part of me.
That’s super important to me — because I got family in Eritrea that watch me on their phones, and don’t have half the things that I have, or aren’t as fortunate as a lot of people that I know. I want to let them know that they can do this too, it don’t matter where you’re from, what you look like, or anything. Anybody can do this as long as you believe in yourself!
Your big song before “Tell Ur Girlfriend” was “Ick.” Did you learn anything from that song and its success that you brought to the campaign for “Tell Ur Girlfriend?”
When I first posted “Ick,” nobody liked it! I kind of shied away from it because I was like, Wow, nobody likes it — oh s—t, am I doing something wrong? In reality, I’m just being myself. I didn’t let it get to me, so I’m like, All right, I’m still going to promote, I’m just not going to feed into it. But when I start looking at the bigger picture, I [decided to] start replying to hate comments with videos of myself. When I started doing that, I started controlling the narrative. Whether y’all like me, hate me or whatever, y’all still listening to it.
“Tell Ur Girlfriend” was the same thing. When the song really started blowing up, everybody was making comments like, “Oh, we can’t condone cheating songs.” I’m like, “Whatever, y’all listen to Keyshia Cole’s ‘I Should’ve Cheated’ and y’all listen to ‘Break Up With Your Girlfriend’ by Ariana Grande.” Music is a form of expression. There are people who felt exactly what I said in the song and they’re just afraid to say it. I’m not afraid to say those things. Once I really leaned into not being afraid to say what it is that I felt and stand on it, I think that’s when it really changed for me.
What is it about your relationship with music that gives you that kind of fearlessness to say what you want to say?
Music is my first love. I’ll be mad and I’ll be like, oh my God, I don’t want to do this no more, but, in reality, I wouldn’t want to be anything else. I wouldn’t be happy doing anything else. When I cry, I could cry in the booth and cry on the song. When I’m in love, I can be so in love and make a love song so beautiful that every time I listen to the song, I feel the embodiment of that emotion, just from my lyrics. I think that’s powerful. My relationship with music is intricate and it’s messy, but it’s my first love. Music is always going to be that.
What’s the messiest thing about your relationship with music?
I think that it’s not perfect, but nothing is perfect. And I’m not perfect. Sometimes, I might get writer’s block, or I might be so hurt and so mad that I make a song and it feels so good because I’m letting my emotions out… but then I can’t never listen to the song again because it might hurt me too much to listen [it]. At this point, throughout the five years of me making music, I have over 10,000 songs, and all of them are unique and mean something to me. I don’t know what I’m going to wake up and want to talk about. I don’t know [how] I’m going to wake up and feel tomorrow or how I’m going to go in the booth. It’s messy because it’s all over the place.
When it comes to making music, shooting music videos and crafting your live show, who are your biggest influences?
I have to say Beyoncé, 1000%. I love Beyoncé, just from growing up and seeing her artist development from Destiny’s Child to now. I went to the Renaissance Tour, and it was amazing. I literally could not believe it. I was so astonished. I just love Beyoncé! Everything about how she performs and how she gets on the stage is so captivating when you see her. You can’t look at anything else and she makes you believe what she’s saying. You believe how she’s performing and how she’s dancing. That’s really what inspired me to be the performer I am. I’m still growing and I’m still learning, but if I’m going to be like anybody, it’s gon’ be like her.
So what’s next for Lay Bankz? When can we expect your next project?
My project will actually be coming out in a few weeks at the end of the month (May 27). It’s raw and it’s me and it’s uncut. Versus my first project, Now You See Me, I feel like this project is way more innovative. I really sat down and thought about how I wanted my project to sound and how I wanted it to feel. I got the most raw, uncut version of After 7 – that’s the title of my project. This is going to be the project where people really have open ears, and I’m standing on that. People going to really listen to this jawn, and I’m believing in that.
What’s one thing you want to have five years from now?
I want to be able to put the people that I love in a better situation. I think I got a lot of people that rely on and expect a lot from and out of me. Without my people, I’m nothing. I just want to make sure that in the next five years, whether I’m giving them a job or I’m buying a car or a house, it’s all for the people who helped get me where I’m at today”.
I am going to end with an interview from Uproxx. An artist that definitely wants to grab our attention, I think that this year is going to see her building her fanbase and proving herself to be one of the queens of modern Hip-Hop. A genre still dogged by sexism and misogyny, Lay Bankz is striking hard and paving a way for other women coming through:
“For the past few months, Lay Bankz has been a mainstay on all social media platforms. Whether it be X (formerly known as Twitter) or TikTok, Lay Bankz’s reach continues to grow by the month. The rapper, who hails from Philadelphia and is just 19 years old, follows a simple philosophy: Make good music and make sure it lands in people’s faces. It’s an idea that’s become the status quo in today’s social media era, especially in recent years with the presence of TikTok. It also presents the harder task of not being too much in the faces of the audience where they feel trapped, get annoyed, and run for the fences. There’s a balance to be mastered here.
Time will tell if Lay Bankz masters this, but it’s been so far so good for her. Her rise to fame kicked off last summer with the release of “Ick.” The bass-thumping addresses the “sassy man apocalypse” and begs men to “tighten the f*ck up.” The song went viral thanks to a video of Bankz dancing to it at a gas station. Her moves, which were energetic to say the least, forced you to stop and watch. The same could be said about her latest viral moment, pushed by her new single “Tell Ur Girlfriend.” The hype single is wildly infectious and begs for a few listens before moving on to something else. Both records, as well as her debut EP Now You See Me, are proof that Lay Bankz wants your attention, and she knows just how to get it.
With more music on the way, we caught up with Lay Bankz for the Uproxx Music 20 series. Scroll down to learn more about the rising Philly rapper.
What is your earliest memory of music?
I remember music from the time I was 3 years old. The first song I ever sang was “Irreplaceable” by Beyoncé.
Who inspired you to take music seriously?
Honestly, myself. Music is a form of expression and it’s subjective. Once I learned I could say how I felt in another form of conversation, I took advantage of that.
What is your most prized possession?
My voice. It’s a gift that I can’t see or touch. Intangible, but not unattainable. It’s brought so much to my life and I couldn’t hold anything else to such high value.
What is your biggest fear?
Not being able to sing. Or not being able to take care of the people who rely on me.
Who is on your hip-hop Mt. Rushmore?
Missy Elliott, Kanye West, Lauryn Hill, and Jay-Z.
Which celebrity do you admire or respect for their personality, and why?
Beyoncé, the way she controls any narrative placed upon her on any platform is admirable as ever. She always shows a sense of resilience, and she never does too much nor does she try hard to be herself. I love that about her.
Share your opinion on something no one could ever change your mind about.
Black-own everything.
What is the best song you’ve ever heard in your life, and what do you love about it?
That’s hard to say, there are so many songs I love. Doubling down on only one would be unfair because I grew up on so much music that I love for different reasons. Even to this day, I hear new music all the time that I appreciate for different reasons.
If you could see five years into the future or go five years into the past, which one would you pick and why?
The past, just to visit moments and feelings I feel like I didn’t get to feel entirely because of how fast they happened. I experience so much every day and my life moves so fast that it’s easy to not entirely take in what’s happening to me. I wouldn’t want to see the future because I’m gonna always get there. Why rush to see what’s already written?
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Love yourself first, because not everyone will love you how they say they do”.
I am going to wrap things up. If you have not heard and followed Lay Bankz then make sure that you do. She is someone who is a singular voice. I can see her going a long way and achieving a lot in her career. I am sure another album will be on its way soon. Do yourself a favour and endure that you…
KNOW her name.
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