Robb Banks

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Robb Bank$
Burrell performing at Summerfest in 2015
Burrell performing at Summerfest in 2015
Background information
Birth nameRichard O'Neil Burrell
Also known as
  • FEMTO
  • Young Savage
Born (1994-09-24) September 24, 1994 (age 26)
New York City, U.S.
OriginCoral Springs, Florida, U.S.
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Rapper
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • record producer
Years active2009–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websiterobbbanks.com

Richard O'Neil Burrell Jr.[1] (born September 24, 1994) better known by his stage name Robb Banks (often stylized as Robb Bank$), is an American rapper, singer and songwriter. Born in New York City, the rapper later moved to Broward County, Florida, at age six and has lived there ever since. He gained recognition with the Raider Klan movement in 2012 where he would debut his first mixtape Calendars and his follow-up mixtape Tha City in 2013. His debut studio album, Year of the Savage, was released on October 2, 2015.

Early life[]

Robb Banks was born Richard O'Neil Burrell Jr, on September 24, 1994, in New York City. He is the oldest child of Carol Johnson and Jamaican dancehall reggae recording artist Shaggy.[2] Burrell spent the first six years of his life in New York before he and his mother moved to Broward County, Florida. He dropped out of high school his senior year and began working on music.[3][4]

Career[]

2011–12: Calendars and rise to prominence[]

In 2012, after releasing his project Everyday Except Monday, with Matt Meyer Lansky as Tuesday Thru Sunday and a slew of other songs in 2011, Banks released his debut mixtape Calendars.[5][6] The solo project predominately consisted of Robb rapping over beats by artists like Clams Casino and SBTRKT, and samples from Aaliyah and OutKast. The project became a hit on the microblogging platform Tumblr.[3] He collaborated with producers like Nuri and SpaceGhostPurrp and began touring the country, developing an underground following.

2013: Tha City[]

After a brief hiatus, Robb began working on another project titled Tha City. He promoted the mixtape by releasing singles off the project including "Practice", "All the Way Live", and "On Me". Tha City was released on October 1, 2013.[7] Prior to the release of this tape rumors had surfaced as to whether or not Shaggy was Robb's father, a fact that was formerly denied, but was soon confirmed by him to be true by making the cover for Tha City an old family photo of Banks and Shaggy. After the release of this mixtape, Robb went on a year-long hiatus as he continued touring and spreading his music around the world.

2014–15: 2PhoneShawty, No Trespassing and Year of the Savage[]

Main article: Year of the Savage

Throughout 2014, Robb began touring around the world and rarely released new music, only to show that he is still working on Year of the Savage. This was until the end of the year, when he began hinting new projects that have been in the work. In December, Banks put out the first (promotional) single for his debut commercial release, called "2PhoneShawty". It ended up being the only song recorded in 2013 on the entire album.

In 2015, he started working on a new batch of music for YOTS, which would mainly feature production from his new affiliate Nuez.[8] In April, Robb released two extended-plays: 2PhoneShawty and No Trespassing. The 2PhoneShawty EP consisted of outtakes from Year of the Savage, and No Trespassing was a collaboration between him and Memphis-born rapper Chris Travis, all recorded in 2014.

On August 13, 2015, Banks released the lead single for his album, titled "Pressure". After that he continued to promote YOTS by releasing a bunch of freestyled tracks. It was during one of these freestyles ("Throw It Up") that he confirmed the release date for his long-awaited album.

On October 2, 2015, Robb Banks released Year of the Savage through 300 Entertainment's Dorian Distribution.[5]

2016–2017: C2: Death of My Teenage and Rich Gang[]

On September 27, 2016, Banks released a sequel to "Calendars" titled "C2: Death of My Teenage" which featured guest appearances from Los Hosale and XXXTentacion, co-founder of Members Only, a hip hop collective he would later join.[9] The mixtape was preceded by the release of the single "BETT".[10][11]

Following the release of the mixtape, Robb embarked on a tour of the same name, which was to feature fellow South Florida rappers Ski Mask the Slump God, Wifisfuneral and Ronny J. New Jersey's Da$h and Chicago's Warhol. SS were also set to open. Before the tour began, however, Da$h was arrested, causing him to be dropped from the tour.

In early January 2017, it was announced by Cash Money Records founder Birdman that Banks was the newest member of the label's Rich Gang subsidiary.[12][13] Robb later confirmed that while he was a part of Rich Gang, he would continue to be an independent artist, choosing not to sign with Cash Money.

At this time, Banks also took to Twitter to announce a new project titled "Falconia", a sequel to his sophomore effort "Tha City".[14]

On September 26, 2017, Banks released EP "Cloverfield 2.0"[15] Months later, on December 27, 2017, he dropped another EP called "2: Pillz".[16]

2018–2019: Molly World and Road to Falconia[]

Main article: Molly World

On February 12, 2018, Banks released single "A Milli (4 M's)" and announced the upcoming release of "No Rooftops 2: Reloaded".[17] Weeks later Banks would release a mixtape titled "Molly World" through Empire Distribution on March 9, 2018.[18] Track 14 of "Molly World" "Let Da Beat Build" was made part of Cash Money's "Before Anythang" Documentary Soundtrack.[19][20] On April 7, 2018 Bank$ and Wifisfuneral released lead single "EA" from their upcoming collaborative project.[21][22]

On April 27, 2018, Banks announced that his long rumored project FALCONIA will be arriving sometime in Summer 2018. However, the date was delayed to sometime in 2020.[23] According to Banks, FALCONIA will have 4 acts, or "arcs," and a grand total of 43+ songs.[24] The first arc, Road To Falconia, was released on December 13, 2019.

2020–present: No Rooftops 2, The Leak Part 1, 2 and 3, and FEW PILLZ[]

On April 16, 2020, Banks released his sequel album to "No Rooftops" called "No Rooftops 2". "No Rooftops 2" serves as the follow up to his project Road To Falconia and serves as the sequel to his 2016 project "No Rooftops". This album included beats from the 2000s as well as instrumentals that were metal and rock inspired. This album was a collaboration with the likes of Mikey More and Deetranada who collabed on the track "BRAIN". As of now, all three albums of the Falconia series are set to drop at the same time in early 2021, though a specific release date is yet to be announced. On November 3, 2020, Banks announced the release of his next two projects, "The Leak" Parts 1 and 2. First one released on November 20, 2020, while the later released on December 18, 2020. On April 19, 2021, Banks released the EP Few Pillz.

Influences[]

Banks' style is notorious for its heavy sampling of old school R&B, pop culture and Japanese anime.[3] Robb states his inspiration to rap comes from Biggie Smalls and that one of his favorite artists of all time is British quiet storm-style singer Sade.[3][5] Robb has also mentioned Lil' Wayne, Webbie, SpaceGhostPurrp, his father and Slug as an influence to his sound. His tag "I Think I Might Be Happy" is synonymous with his music and is taken from a scene of the U.S. version of Skins. Banks frequently makes references to Japanese anime Naruto and calls it his favorite anime of all time. Banks also refers to himself as "Femto" from the Japanese manga, Berserk.

Discography[]

Albums[]

Mixtapes[]

  • Calendars (2012)
  • Tha City (2013)
  • No Rooftops (2016)
  • C2: Death of My Teenage (2016)
  • Molly World (2018)
  • Cloverfield 3 (2018)
  • Conn3ct3d (2019) with Wifisfuneral and Cris Dinero
  • Road to Falconia (Arc 0) (2019)
  • No Rooftops 2 (2020)
  • Tha Leak (Part 1) (2020)
  • Tha Leak (Part 2) (2020)
  • Tha Leak (Part 3) (2021)

EPs[]

  • 2PhoneShawty (2015)
  • No Trespassing (2015) with Chris Travis
  • Cloverfield 2.0 (2017)
  • 2 Pillz (2017)
  • 100 Year War (Golden Age) (2018)
  • Few Pillz (2021)

Singles[]

  • Practice (2013) feat. Sir Michael Rocks
  • All the Way Live (2013)
  • On Me (2013)
  • 2PhoneShawty (2014)
  • 24/7 (2015) feat. IndigoChildRick
  • Solid (2015) with Chris Travis
  • Pressure (2015)
  • BETT (2016)
  • ILYSM (2017) feat. Famous Dex
  • Can't Feel My Face (2019) with Wifisfuneral
  • Hentai (2019)

References[]

  1. ^ "Richard Oneil Burrell's Record Broward County, FL - 7/29/2014". openpasts.com. Retrieved October 11, 2015.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Robb Bank$ Is His Own Man". Noisey. 2013-11-27. Retrieved 2018-11-06.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Tracy, Liz (January 12, 2016). "Rapper Robb Bank$ Is a Phenomenon Among Millennial Hip-Hop Fans". Miami New Times. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  4. ^ "Shaggy's Son Robb Banks Flips His Father's Hit, "It Wasn't Me"". Vladtv.com. 2017-01-07. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b c Seabrook III, Robby (October 29, 2015). "Robb Bank$ Isn't Different, He's Just Smarter Than You: An Interview with a Savage". Noisey. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  6. ^ Krastz, Roger (March 28, 2017). "Watch Robb Banks' Pitch for 2017 XXL Freshman". XXL. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  7. ^ Bein, Kat (October 1, 2013). "Robb Bank$ Drops New Mixtape, T/H/A City: "People Aren't Going to Get It"". Miami New Times. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  8. ^ "Robb Bank$ Talks Year of the Savage and Signing to 300". massappeal.com. Retrieved 2015-10-11.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ Madden, Sidney (September 28, 2016). "Robb Banks Drops 'C2: Death of My Teenage' Mixtape". XXL. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  10. ^ Diaz, Angel (June 17, 2016). "Premiere: Listen to Robb Bank$' New Banger "Bett"". Complex. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  11. ^ Ivey, Justin (June 17, 2016). "Robb Bank$ Releases New Single "Bett"". XXL. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  12. ^ Schwadron, Eli (January 5, 2017). "Robb Banks Signs With Cash Money". XXL. Retrieved September 4, 2017.
  13. ^ Smith Trevor (2013-01-15). "Is Robb Bank$ Signed To Cash Money?". Hotnewhiphop.com. Retrieved 2018-03-11.
  14. ^ WIKI