Grant JonesStreaming statistics are bizarre beasts, and, as long as we assume no streaming bots are interfering, they can help tell a story of their own. Lay Bankz is a 20-year-old rapper from Philadelphia who has blown up thanks to her infectious single “Tell Ur Girlfriend” – one of 2024’s most popular songs with 216 million streams on Spotify at the time of writing – but her debut album seems to have fallen on deaf ears. After last week’s Rakim write-up, Bankz has also shown an interest in the lucky seven, naming her record “After 7”. Not that anyone needs it confirmed, but Bankz is no Rakim, and that’s not her intention with this record. But if you’ve got an album with hundreds of millions of streams on the single, and 30k streams on the other songs, I don’t think your fans are curious enough to check out the album. Or more accurately, you may not have fans yet. Playlist placements are clearly the aim, but her admission of wanting to “make good music, and make sure it lands in people’s faces” only emphasises the level of importance placed on social media. She doesn’t want it in the listener’s ears, she wants it in their faces. Yes, Gramps, this is one of those schmancy TikTok sensations the kids are talking about, and her claim to fame is a viral dance video called “Ick” that popped off last year. Considering the only TikTok rapper I know is Flava Flav, I’m not the target audience for this blend of Rap, Pop and R&B, but even my old ass heard the “Tell Ur Girlfriend” song as it wormed its way onto a Pop playlist. Good music is good music, after all.
You can’t tell me that’s not a banger. It’s oddly backwards-facing in that it sounds like it came from 2003, and Bankz does bring some of that energy throughout “After 7”, with her vocal range showcasing a knack for wonderfully sweet melodies. There are times when she proves why her numbers are doing well on social media. Compared to a peer like Ice Spice who hurriedly knocked out an EP last year after going viral, and is now inserted awkwardly next to superstars like Taylor Swift years before she was ready, this album at least feels more polished, even indulgent considering the fifteen tracks on offer. There’s also a musicality behind even the more trashier offerings, with a clear distinction between the two types of songs Bankz has in her locker. You’ve got the two-minute sex-bops aimed at social media audiences, and then the three-minute love songs that feel more at home in an album environment. This is an artist currently stuck between the two avenues, wishing to cater to the teenagers that made her go viral in the first place, and wanting to be a legitimate musician with songs offering something more than mere gimmickry and shock value.
It’s why a song like “7Days7Nights” feels more complete, less abrasive and better paced. It retains that young, carefree attitude but pairs it with some late-night chillout aesthetics that continue through the mid-section of the album. We shift from two minute bursts into three minute vibes; a collection of snappy swipes on the phone into mature-sounding songs you’ll revisit. The horns on “Irony” act as a suitable backdrop as Bankz announces herself to the world with some short rhyme spurts. “How Could You” with singer Beam is straight R&B, but the pick of the bunch is “Smooth Criminal” which has more in common with Phil Collins than MJ – all it’s missing is some tough drums.
Sexual promiscuity has always been popular among younger artists, but it goes down easier (ha) when it’s dressed up in friendlier Pop. We’ve come a long way from the days of Whitney Houston’s “It’s Not Right But It’s OK”, or Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, where infidelity was suggested, questioned and occasionally indulged in, but in 2024, a lot of these types of songs left all their subtly at the condom machine. Trashy, pornographic raps follow a long line of ladies utilizing their sexual prowess to aid their rhymes and often find more success when doing so. Sexxy Red, Latto, Glo Rilla, JT and Ice Spice have built their brands around this and Bankz isn’t afraid to do the same with various songs detailing her adventures in the bedroom. Some of this can grate, particularly if it’s delivered in an uninspiring fashion, but Bankz disguises some of these trashier elements with her soothing singing ability.
“Would You?” is ridiculously catchy, and has the potential to be another smash hit, but exemplifies this desire to be wanted at any cost, proposing some questions that will have anyone over the age of thirty rolling their eyes:
“If I had an OnlyFans
If I used to date your man
If I twerked on Instagram
If I fall out with your fam
Would you love me?
Would you love me?
Would you love me?
Would you love me?
If I got a little fat
If I played you in the chat
If they leaked me on the net
Tell me, could you handle that?
Would you love me?
Would you love me?
Would you love me?
Would you love me?”
This isn’t an album boasting lyricism in the traditional sense, and shouldn’t be judged as such. Closer to Rihanna than Nicki Minaj, Lay Bankz may well warrant her validation from outlets like XXL Magazine as a future star of rap, but she’s a Pop singer who dabbles in rap, rather than the other way around. If you enjoy the sweeter side of Pop R&B and aren’t afraid to get nasty, this is an album that scratches an itch that a K. Michelle record does. Some of these tracks are designed as background music for the bedroom, and few are as direct as the money shot that is “anyway”:
The whipping sound effects are suitably over the top, as is much of the detail found in her verses, with some welcome nods to her influences (the movie Friday and Destiny’s Child are cited). The bad tracks are ones that fall into cliches. “Good Look” is anything but, a derivative effort using those played-out Drill beats and flows that have been done to death. It doesn’t sound like a Lay Bankz track, something she has spent the rest of the album developing. “Tongue Out Freestyle” has a killer instrumental, but also feels like it could have been better if it was more focused. It reminded me of Pharoahe Monch’s “Simon Says” and it could have done with a similarly raucous warcry for the club.
“After 7” is a solid foundation to build upon, that often falls foul of its own reliance on mirroring popular artists. I don’t really know much about her outside of a high sex drive, but Bankz has enough versatility here that can extend beyond the aforementioned ladies that blend Pop with Rap. I wouldn’t be surprised if she goes on to bigger and better things in the future.