On Oct. 31, the Dallas rapper is throwing her third annual Halloween costume party and birthday bash at Thrive Nightclub with hosts Big Boogie and Tay Money. She couldn't have picked better friends to ring in her 26th birthday, as both have been big supporters and made songs with her that embrace her fiery attitude.
Dubbed “Nightmare on Elm Street” as a play on Wes Craven's classic slasher film that follows the haunting story of Freddy Krueger, it’s more than a clever title for a costume party located on Elm. The Oct. 31 date in Dallas doubles as the first stop on Banks’ upcoming Cocky on Purpose Tour, spanning 15 dates with support from Memphis rapper Gloss Up. The tour is her first as a solo headlining act, making stops in Charlotte, North Carolina; Louisville, Kentucky; Beaumont, Texas, and elsewhere. She has previously toured with Summer Walker, T-Pain and Yung Bleu.
“The last two years were super crazy. Super packed. So much fun,” Banks says.
Last year's celebration was at club Headquarters.
“It's just something for the city, you know? So I like to come and just provide a good time and provide the vibe,” she says.
The DeSoto native lives in Atlanta and stars in Season 12 of Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. So it's special for Banks to return to Dallas where she spent years grinding to get her music heard. The name of the tour comes from her self-released project in 2019. Cocky on Purpose was her third album, balancing her raps with Auto-Tune singing and experimenting with slower songs to expand her sound. This past August, she released a second installment through an EP called Cocky on Purpose 2. Led by sexually charged singles “Hoe Please” and “On His Face,” the tour is another milestone for Banks as her hard-earned hustle as an independent artist pays off.
Before “Buss It” took off and went platinum, she remembers what life was like starting in the industry five years ago. Like many past hip-hop artists who have paved the way, Banks took a DIY approach.
“It was just me and my mom, and I was just putting my projects together myself," she says. "I would go to the studio and then once I recorded maybe like 10 or 12 songs, I would go do a photo shoot and then I would make the cover myself. I uploaded it myself. Everything was just me by myself.”
The hip-hop star left Texas A&M University-Commerce her sophomore year in 2018, giving up her nursing studies to pursue music full-time. She had always wanted to rap from a young age but didn’t know if it was possible.
“As a kid, it looks like a one-and-a-million chance kind of thing,” she says. “I knew [I wanted to rap], but growing up I was like, ‘That’s probably not going to happen. I’m just gonna go be a nurse.’”
Inspired by Nicki Minaj, Missy Elliott and Eve, Banks admired how outspoken these rappers were while making “amazing music.” “Just looking at them as a 10-year-old girl like, ‘My God, they're so cool. I want to be like them,'" she says.
Banks kept at her passion. She didn’t skip steps, posting freestyles on social media to get noticed. She networked enough to make personal connections with local DJs, recalling how she sent the “E-Mix” of Tyga and Offset’s “Taste” for them to play in the clubs.
“That's typically the song I would perform if I did local shows and stuff like that,” Banks says. “So once I started sending it out, they just started asking for whatever I put out.”
Eventually, word of mouth led to her hearing one of her songs, “Slide,” off her debut mixtape Art of the Hustle, on 97.9 The Beat for the first time. She had momentum in her city.
It wasn’t that long before “Buss It” dropped in 2020, leading to 2021’s first big viral trend on TikTok. The Buss It Challenge consisted of participants recording two videos: one in regular, comfy clothes and the other in going-out clothes. They would record themselves during the beginning of the song, which sampled Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” and when the beat dropped, transition to being all dressed up over the song’s chorus.
Banks became TikTok-famous as people recognized her as the “Buss It” girl. It was a stark contrast to her first show in southern Dallas in August 2019, performing in front of a small crowd that included her mom and her photographer at the time.
Banks is the type of girl who uses music as therapy, intending to create songs from feeling rather than trying to chase another hit. She’s earned the reputation as the “Flow Queen,” as someone who can steadily drop bars. Her approach of being straight to the point with her lyrics has attracted collaborators such as Travis Scott, BigXThaPlug and the late BeatKing. "Toot That," she says, came together organically.
Flowing Up
“I was at a bar in Dallas called Tates; this was back in 2019 as well,” Banks says. “And [BeatKing] came in and said, 'I heard the song 'Toot That.' Sgt J played it for me. You need to send that to me. I need to get on it.' I said, 'Cool.' So I sent it to him. We went to the studio the very next day. He came and did his verse. That was pretty much that. I shot the video when I was getting ready to put my project out. And we later did a remix with DreamDoll, and he came and shot that video as well in LA. We were just always locked in.”Cocky on Purpose 2 has features by Big Boogie, Skilla Baby, Toosii, Ralo and BigXThaPlug. The EP has high-energy raps and familiar samples, flipping The Game’s “How We Do” on “Hoe Please” and Ray J’s "One Wish" on a song with the same name. The latter is Banks' favorite. “I Ain’t Fresh” captures the essence of D-Town boogie with quotable lines such as “If I’m off in Dallas, he know where to find me/I’m probably in the club but I’m never where that line be.”
It's a subtle flex to remind people that Erica Banks is the main attraction. "Only language I'm speaking is c-notes," she raps on "Big Risk," a collab with BigXThaPlug that she says was a "cool moment." On BigXThaPlug's Amar, she was featured on "Thick" with Tay Money, a major collision of Dallas hip-hop talent.
"He was saying, 'Hey, E. I need a girl for my song on my album. I need a feel for the girls,'" Banks says. "I was like, 'OK, cool.' I pulled up to the studio. He played me the record. I liked it, got on it and then he later added Tay Money, which was super fire. So it was a win-win situation.”
As she prepares her setlist before the tour begins, expect an elevated version of Banks, incorporating choreography and dancers for a complete live experience. A hometown show offers plenty of opportunities to make it unique for the crowd, but she’s most excited about returning to a familiar place that still represents her roots.
“Seeing my friends, going to my mom's house, visiting my grandparents, eating a home-cooked meal,” Banks says. “You know, pretty much the basic things because my family's in Dallas. So whenever I go to Dallas, it's just like that home feel, so that's what I look forward to.”
Erica Banks will perform on Oct. 31 at her third annual Halloween costume party at Thrive Nightclub, 1015 Elm St. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.
