Biography
Erica Banks is an American rapper from DeSoto, Texas. Following the release of her first three mix-tapes, she signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment, who released her self-titled mix-tape in June 2020. It spawned her first charting single, "Buss It", which went viral on TikTok. In January 2021, she signed to Warner Records, on which "Buss It" was reissued.
Banks was born and raised in DeSoto, Texas. At the age of 12, she began writing poetry, winning several school contests, and started rapping in high school. While attending Texas A&M University-Commerce as a nursing student, she recorded her first songs, leading to her to decide to drop out during her sophomore year to pursue her music career.
In 2018, Banks released her first single, titled "Talk My Shit" independently through SoundCloud. On March 17, 2019, Banks subsequently self-released her first official mix-tape, titled Art of the Hustle. In April 2019, she signed with 1501 Certified Entertainment after playing a snippet of her song "Buss It" for the label's CEO, American former baseball player Carl Crawford, in an Instagram Live video.
Despite after signing with 1501 Certified, two of her mix-tapes - Pressure and Cocky on Purpose - were subsequently self-released between June and November of that year.
On June 19, 2020, Banks released her self-titled fourth mix-tape through 1501 Certified. The mix-tape spawned the singles, including a full version of the song "Buss It", and "Give Me That", the former of which became Banks's breakout song in January 2021 after becoming the subject of a viral trend on the video-sharing platform TikTok, giving her her first entry on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. In that same month, she signed a record deal with Warner Records. Later in that same month, she was featured on American rapper Yella Beezy's single "Star". Banks has listed American rappers Missy Elliott, Nicki Minaj among her musical inspirations, also naming rappers Asian Doll and Cuban Doll as influential on her music and image.
