Erica Scharmane Banks (born October 5, 1998) is an American rapper born and raised in

DeSoto, Texas DeSoto is a city in Dallas County, Texas, United States. DeSoto is a suburb of Dallas and is part of the Best Southwest area, which includes DeSoto, Cedar Hill, Duncanville, and Lancaster. History The area was first settled in 1847, maki ...

. Following the release of her first three mixtapes, she signed to 1501 Certified Entertainment, who released her self-titled mixtape in June 2020. It spawned her first charting single, "

Buss It "Buss It" is a song recorded by American rapper Erica Banks. Written by Banks and produced by Sgt. J, the song was released on May 15, 2020, through 1501 Certified Entertainment and later through Warner Records as the lead single from Banks's s ...

", which went viral on

TikTok TikTok, known in mainland China and Hong Kong as Douyin (), is a social media and Short-form content, short-form online video platform owned by Chinese Internet company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which may range in duration f ...

. In January 2021, she signed to

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label. A subsidiary of Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division ...

, on which "Buss It" was reissued.

Early life

Banks was born and raised in

. 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 East Texas A&M University (ETAMU; formerly Texas A&M University–Commerce) is a public university in Commerce, Texas, United States. With an enrollment of over 12,000 students as of fall 2017, the university is the third-largest institution in ...

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.

Career

In 2018, Banks released her first single, titled "Talk My Shit" independently through

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. On March 17, 2019, Banks subsequently self-released her first official mixtape, titled ''Art of the Hustle''. In April 2019, she signed with

1501 Certified Entertainment Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "the Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

after playing a snippet of her song "

" for the label's CEO, American former baseball player

Carl Crawford Carl Demonte Crawford (born August 5, 1981), nicknamed "the Perfect Storm", is an American former professional baseball left fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers. He ba ...

, in an

Instagram Live Instagram is an American photo and short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters, be organized by hashtags, and be associated with a location via ...

video. Despite after signing with 1501 Certified, two of her mixtapes ''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 mixtape through 1501 Certified. The mixtape 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

, giving her her first entry on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. In that same month, she signed a record deal with

. Later in that same month, she was featured on American rapper

Yella Beezy Markies Deandre Conway (born October 22, 1991), better known by the stage name Yella Beezy, is an American rapper from Dallas, Texas. He is best known for his 2017 single " That's On Me", which entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and received gol ...

's single "Star". In June 2023, Banks joined the eleventh season of the reality television series, '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta''. In December 2024, Banks signed new deal in a joint venture with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

Artistry

Banks has listed rappers

Missy Elliott Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott (born July 1, 1971), also known as Misdemeanor, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She began her musical career as a member of the Contemporary R&B, R&B girl group 4 All the Sistas Arou ...

Lil' Kim Kimberly Denise Jones (born July 11, 1974), Those giving 1974 include: * * * * * better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after ...

, and

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian rapper, singer, and songwriter. Regarded as the "Queen of Rap" and one of the most influential rappers of all time, she is noted for her ...

among her musical inspirations, and

Asian Doll Misharron Jermeisha Allen (born December 7, 1996), known professionally as Asian Doll (also known as Asian Da Brat, or simply Asian), is an American rapper. A Dallas native, she was the first female artist to be signed to Gucci Mane's 1017 Esk ...

as an influence for music and image. Musically, she has been compared by fans to American rapper

Megan Thee Stallion Megan Jovon Ruth Pete (born February 15, 1995), known professionally as Megan Thee Stallion, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Megan initially gained recognition when videos of her freestyling began to circulate widely on social me ...

and Ti from the

Taylor Girlz Taylor Girlz are an American rap-dance-R&B musical trio consisting of sister rappers Daysha Taylor (born December 25, 1995) and Ti Taylor (born August 7, 1998 in Alabama), and dancer-choreographer Tiny. Raised in Atlanta, the Taylor sisters wer ...

Discography

Studio albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banks, Erica Living people 1998 births People from DeSoto, Texas 21st-century American rappers Rappers from Dallas African-American women rappers 21st-century American women rappers Warner Records artists 21st-century African-American women singers 21st-century African-American musicians