Rapper Remy Banks chats about his musical career

Rapper and Queens native Remy Banks is performing at Rams Head Live! later this month. The 26-year-old artist has been a staple presence in the New York rap scene, where he was a founder of hip-hop collective World’s Fair. After years of recording with World’s Fair, Banks has announced that he’ll be releasing his second solo album later this year, a project titled higher.

2015 looks to be a big year for the Queens emcee; he has been touring the country with California rappers Vince Staples and Earl Sweatshirt, two young artists who have been making big names for themselves with critically acclaimed releases. I recently got a chance to catch up with Remy and talk to him about his beginnings in hip-hop and looking toward the future as a rising artist:

Louis Rosin: So I know your rap group originally started out as Children of the Night with you, Nasty Nigel and Lanksy Jones, and then switched to World’s Fair in 2010. Can you talk a bit about this transition?

Remy Banks: Yeah, for sure. I mean, there wasn’t really any transition. It was natural, like the other guys [Cody B.Ware, Jeff Donna and Prince SAMO] were always rappers — always did their thing, and we always would rap together, and so it just sort of happened. We’re still all our own independent artists, but it was a very natural thing.

LR: You recently performed at major music festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. SXSW is one of the biggest festivals in the country, featuring hundreds of artists. What was your experience like down there?

RB: It’s a really cool festival; there’s so much going on down there. The weather sucked when we went down there, but it was whatever. The whole city turns out to the festival though.

LR: You were recently featured on “The Rap Monument,” a 45-minute epic collaboration produced by DJ Hudson Mohawke that features over 40 rappers. What was it like to be a part of that? Were you guys all in the studio at the same time?

RB: No, no. I just went in the studio one day, and they played me the beat. I put down a verse then sent it in. It was pretty cool, though; the whole thing was sponsored by Hennessy, so they had Hennessey stuff everywhere. I actually had [Nasty] Nigel come in and spit a verse on it.

LR: Yeah, there were some really dope verses on there. Going off that, who are some of your major hip-hop influences, particularly who from your native borough of Queens?

RB: Well, you know, you got to put Tribe [Called Quest] up there — they’re all-time. I grew up when Nas was coming up, so I listened to him a lot. He was really big for me when I started rapping. Also, G-Unit; I got to go with G-Unit, I love [50 Cent]’s music. I listened to 50 a lot. Yeah, those are some of my favorite artists definitely. I would say they all influenced my music.

LR: You’ve been touring with California natives Earl Sweatshirt and Vince Staples. What’s that like? Is Earl as depressed in real life as he is in his music?

RB: It’s been great so far. We’ve had a lot of fun. I mean, we just started [touring], but they’re both talented rappers. No, man. I mean, Earl is a chill guy. He’s like me — he’s outgoing, we have a lot of fun, he doesn’t seem down or anything. We’ve been having a good time. Earl is really big right now. Everybody is loving his music.

LR: You’re rapping with West Coast artists right now, so I have to ask — where do you think hip-hop is at right now? Which city holds the crown?

RB: I got to say New York. I mean, the past few years, New York has been coming back. In 2012, Flatbush Zombies started blowing up, A$AP started blowing up, [Bodega] Bamz started blowing up. We were all friends before so we were all supporting each other. It was like a cool thing to see all these guys getting big at the same time, bringing New York back.

LR: What do you want people to get out of your live show? How do you try to bring the energy?

RB: I mean, I definitely try to keep it interesting. When I go up there, I’m getting really into it. You’ve got to bring it. But at the same time, I want people to really hear my music, to hear what I’m rapping. My shows aren’t really as much about moshing. I want people to be able to appreciate my lyrics — that’s what I’m trying to do as an artist.

LR: You’re dropping a solo album later this year called Higher, and you recently released a music video for “rem,” which was produced by Odd Future member Left Brain.

RB: Yeah, I’ve been working with Left Brain for a long time and he’s dope. We went out to Cali, me and Nigel, and he played some joints. When I heard that track I knew I had to get on it. It was a good working with him; we work well together.

LR: Who are some producers that you would want to work with?

RB: Erick Arc Elliot, Pharrell and Tyga that I can think of off the top of my head.