Location: Chicago

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BanksTheGenius - Ready To Hit The Map

Urban Steez: Tell everybody your name and what area you represent?

My name is banksthegenius and I currently reside in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois.

Urban Steez: How did you come up with your music name?

Banks: It was actually kind of random, growing up some of my close friends used to call me banks.  So when I started to think about a possible name I kept adding "thegenius" to the end of it cause I liked the way it sounded.  After contemplating for awhile I decided banksthegenius was the only thing I could come up with that I truly liked.

Urban Steez: How long have you been doing music and what made you get into music?

Banks: I've been making music since I was in elementary school, I got my first guitar in fifth grade and was always in bands growing up.  Although none of them were ever to serious music was always my passion and in addition to playing guitar I was constantly writing lyrics.  I originally got into hip hop because one of my friends used to freestyle when would we cruise around.  One day I decided to give it a try with him and it basically evolved from there.  At first I wasn't too serious but after getting comfortable with everything I became committed and motivated to making quality music for people to hear.

Urban Steez: How would you describe your style and why? And what do you feel you can bring to the table as an artist?

Banks: I feel like my style has a lot of diversity to it.On this project I really tried to take a different approach with every track as far as the content and format.I've got a few songs displaying the lyricism, a few of the hype party tracks, tracks that address real life issues in today's society, songs about women, whatever it doesn't matter if it can be done I tried to do it.There's an infinite amount of inspiration out there you've just got to find it.

Urban Steez: If you had to pick which label to be signed to what would it be and why?

Banks: I don't know if I'd necessarily be able to pick a label without knowing exactly how each one of them operates and how they manage their artists. I'm not just trying to sign my name in ink at the drop of a dime, and then be thrown to the side and forgotten about. But I really like the work G.O.O.D. music does, so I'd have to say Island records since that's who their under.  If I had to make a second choice it would be Atlantic. Like I said, I really want to find a record company that likes what I'm doing and lets me continue to be myself and connect with the fans in my own way. I don't want to be known as another one of those artists who went so hard as a rookie, and then gets signed and starts making mainstream, cliche records because the label is forcing it on me.

Urban Steez: Yea, that happen to a lot of cats from 2000 – 2010, industry would pu top talent in a box and then wonder why they album flopped. What’s the biggest challenge you feel you face as an artist?

Banks: The biggest challenge as an artist I'd say is just trying to find the time and financial means to keep producing new material.  Now of day’s, artists are dropping new tracks everyday, new visuals every week, mixtapes on a monthly basis, and that's all time and money spent to create it.  Going to school and working full time tends to interfere with that but I try to use any free time I can to accomplish things.  For now it's all just an investment, but, hopefully one day I'll be able to support myself through music and pursue it without any other distractions.

Urban Steez: School and Work are necessary distractions, but I feel you. Who would you want to collaborate with in the music industry and why?

Banks: This is probably one of the hardest questions due to the fact there is so many people I could visualize making a dope track with.  But if I had to throw a couple names out there in no specific order I'd say: J. Cole, Wale, Macklemore, Curren$y, and an endless list of some of my fellow Chicagoans.

Urban Steez: So how do you feel you rank against top music talents today? And why?

Banks: As far as top talents I can't say how I rank against them because I'm not the listener.  No matter if I think I'm better than this person, or not up to par with someone else, at the end of the day it's up to the listeners to decide.  To me your status is determined by how the fans feel about you and respond to your music.  But I'll say I do feel that I'm making original, quality music that could potentially compete in today's industry.

Urban Steez: Very True!! What are you working on now and when can fans expect to hear more from you?

Banks: Right now I'm currently working on my first official project which is entitled "GIFTED”, I'm in the process of wrapping it up and it should be released by November I'm hoping.  The project is basically an album but I'm going to be giving it out for free so there's more of an incentive for the new fans to check me out.

Urban Steez: That’s wassup, you already know where to deliver it (hint). Give us a quote, the best represents what you are about?

Banks: “Make something out of nothing that's what dedication gives, and if you ain't got that then you won't ever do shit.”

Urban Steez: I likes… Who and what are your influences?

Banks: I'd say that I'm influenced by music in general, anything I hear could potentially spark something inside of me that could end up being a track.I try to listen to other artists too and see what people are doing so I'm not repeating some of the same stuff you keep hearing.

Urban Steez: If music never existed what do you think you would be doing?

Banks: If music never existed I honestly don't know what else I would be involved in.  It's hard to say because there's nothing else that has been as heavy of an influence or as big of an outlet in my life.  I try not to play the "what if" game so unfortunately I don't have much of a response for this one.

Urban Steez: Will Smith said, “If you really want to achieve something there is ONLY plan A, there is no plan B”, for some people that is true”. What do you think of the hip hop/ music world right now?

Banks: I think hip hop right now is evolving and because of new technology it's becoming easier to acquire the equipment needed to record.  But as much as that's a good thing I feel like people don't realize how much hard work it actually takes.  There's a lot ofmainstream talent out right now and just as much up and coming, but for every good artist there's probably a hundred who can't compete. I feel like a lot of artists trying to get into the game are remixing industry beats way too much. In my opinion you gotta prove yourself as an artist, show people you can make something from scratch.  When you remix something there's already a formula there, and they bite it so I just don't see that as something that can gauge the talent or skills of an artist.

Urban Steez: I agree 100%. You have to create your own masterpiece, copy and paste can only get you so far. What music do you have playing in your sound system right now?

Banks: Recently I've been bumping a lot of J. Cole, Wale, Tupac, and some other random stuff.  I'm way to lazy to make new CD's so I usually just roll around and bump the same 75 track data CD hah.

Urban Steez: Lol… Who is your celebrity crush?

Banks: I don't know if I necessarily have a celebrity crush, I'd say there's a lot of famous females that are more than worthy, however, I don't have one in particular.

Urban Steez: How can business heads and fans contact you in the future (myspace, email, number, etc.)?

Banks: Everyone can check out my fan page @ facebook.com/banksthegenius and all my music that's released thus far off my project is up and available for download @ soundcloud.com/banksthegenius

Follow @banksthegenius on twitter, and for anyone trying to contact me about collabs, booking, or any other inquiry my e-mail is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Urban Steez: Any shot outs?

Banks: Last but not least shout out to the producers I fuck with; ElSchmitty, Pierre DeJournette, my guy Ogun, thekidDIRTY, and Isaac! Also thanks to UrbanSteez for the feature!

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