Robin Banks (rapper)

Liban Randall (born February 27, 1995), known professionally as Robin Banks, is a Canadian rapper who was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He is best known for his hit songs Up Next and Wass Gang, which features fellow Toronto rapper Pressa. In April 2017, Robin Banks was shot 9 times at a hookah lounge in Vaughan, Ontario and left in critical condition to injuries to his spinal cord.[1]

Liban Randall
Birth nameLiban Randall
Also known asRonin Banks
Born (1995-02-27) February 27, 1995
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenresRap, Hip hop, Trap
Occupation(s)Rapper
InstrumentsVocals
Years active2015–present
LabelsUpTop Movement Inc.
Associated acts
  • Pressa
  • Houdini
  • Burna Bandz
  • Tallup Twinz

Early life

Robin Banks was born in Toronto, Ontario. Robin Banks grew up in the North-West end of Toronto, known as the infamous Jane & Finch intersection.[2] He starting gaining an interest in rap music and hip-hop at a young age, as he rapped in front of his friends in middle school. His favorite artist was New York rapper, 50 Cent, saying that he was his biggest influence to start a rap career.[3]

Career

Banks’ music career started in 2014, uploading his first song and music video Don’t Try Me featuring fellow Toronto rapper, Big Billz.[4] 2015 was the year he dropped his most well known tracks, as Banks has uploaded many of his music videos on YouTube. In January 2015, he uploaded his first single, Up Next, which currently stands at over 1,900,000 views.[5] In May 2015, he released Malis Off A Molly, that has over 600,000 views.[6] In July 2015, he released Club TT which sits at just above 380,000 views.[7] He also uploaded music videos like Wass Gang, which has over 4,000,000 views[8] and Baba Freestyle, which has about 1,000,000 views,[9] respectively. Banks also did remixes of Drake’s song Controlla and The Weeknd’s song Starboy.[10][11] In October 2015, Banks released his first mixtape titled, The Entertainment on DatPiff.[12]

In 2016, he released Priceless which featured Toronto artist Fb. The track was certified gold by Music Canada on August 19, 2020.[13]

In 2017, he released a song with Peso P titled Come Thru.

Banks founded UpTop Movement Inc, a record label based in Toronto. The record label showcases young and upcoming artists from the North-West end of Toronto, such as Burna Bandz, Houdini, and the Tallup Twinz.[14]

Banks has claimed that he has had numerous shows that were supposed to booked at clubs in Toronto, but police shut them down for his alleged gang ties in the Driftwood area.[15] His friend and fellow artist, Pressa is linked to the Toronto gang, Young Buck Killers, so police believe that Banks is some how linked to their criminal ring.[16]

In February 2018, after a long hiatus from releasing a major tape, Banks released his mixtape Still Here. The cover of the mixtape shows Banks’ body and his scars from the bullets he took during a shooting incident in 2017.[17] The mixtape features UpTop Movement Inc artists like Burna Bandz, Area boy, and Layla Hendrix.

Style

Banks’ style of rapping has been compared to the late New York rapper, Speaker Knockerz, incorporating rapping and singing while having a very distinct voice.[2] Most of the songs that Banks produces have to do with him having a good time with his friends through alcohol and drugs. He tries to incorporate the stereotypical rapper life which involves drugs, sex and violence. However they are mostly upbeat songs and he always mentions his friends and brothers that struggled with him in the Jane and Finch area. Banks is also known for using Somalian terms in his raps and is proud of his Somalian heritage.[2]

Banks has claimed to create the term “I’m TT” which is an acronym for “Too Turnt”, with “Turnt” meaning someone is excited and hyped up about something. The term gained recognition after rapper Drake used it as a caption on Instagram.

Uptop Movement

Banks launched Uptop Movement, Inc. in 2013 with Shem aka BG. An independent record label for artists from the north-west borough of Toronto to gain recognition.[18] The labels original carnation included Robin Banks, Houdini, Burna Bandz, Tallup Twinz, J Neat, WhyG, SupaWassi and Pressa. They have since gone on to release two compilation albums.[19] Northside Jane (2019) and Northside Jane 2 (2020).[20] [21]

Shooting incident

On April 3, 2017, Banks was involved in a shooting incident at a nightclub in Woodbridge.[22] He was shot 9 times inside the club, and his injuries included damage to his spinal cord. Early reports after the shooting claimed that he had life-threatening injuries and he possibly could die, but after some hours at the hospital, he was in stable condition.[1] It is believed that he was specifically targeted because he was $10,000 in debt with the shooter.[23] The suspect, Nicholas Rhoden, was arrested and charged with a list of firearm charges and possession of a substance with the intent of selling and trafficking. Another suspect, Rushawn Anderson, turned himself in as well.[24]

He received support on social media platforms, with the hashtag “#PrayforRobinBanks” circling through different outlets. Rapper Meek Mill showed his support on Instagram by posting a picture of Banks, captioning “Pray 4 da kid.”[1]

His family posted a YouCaring page for help covering the extensive medical bills that came out to $300,000.[25]

Personal life

Robin Banks is of Jamaican and Somali descent.[2] He constantly mentions Somali terms in his songs and has helped fellow Somalian artists like Top5 and Layla Hendrix gain recognition in the hip-hop scene. His main fan base comes from Toronto, but his music is known throughout the Greater Toronto Area.

Banks is from the Driftwood area of Toronto in the North-West section. The area is known to be a very difficult place to live in due to low education, employment and morality rates.[16] He said he had to survive to get out of that area and that rap was his escape from the gang life and drug game.[3]

References
  1. "'Thanks for the love': Toronto rapper Robin Banks stable after Vaughan triple shooting". CBC. April 4, 2017.
  2. Pastuk, Slava (August 4, 2015). "Robin Banks is Toronto's Secret Hitmaker". Vice.
  3. "Robin Banks- "I Want to be Rich Like 50 Cent"". YouTube. March 3, 2017.
  4. "Robin Banks & Big Billz - Don't Try Me (Official Music Video)". YouTube. October 3, 2014.
  5. "Robin Banks - Up Next - Official Music Video | Directed By RodZilla". YouTube. January 19, 2015.
  6. "Robin Banks - Malis Off A Molly". YouTube. May 28, 2015.
  7. "ROBIN BANKS - CLUB TT". YouTube. July 15, 2015.
  8. "Wass Gang - Robin Banks x Pressa x GD x FB Dir. MWorks (prod. Dennisbeats)". YouTube. November 14, 2015.
  9. "Robin Banks - Baba Freestyle (Official Video) Dir. Rodzilla". YouTube. July 19, 2015.
  10. "Robin Banks - Controlla Remix". YouTube. April 21, 2016.
  11. "Robin Banks - Starboy Remix (Music Video)". YouTube. December 14, 2016.
  12. Robin Banks (November 6, 2015). "The Entertainment". DatPiff. Retrieved 2019-04-21.
  13. https://musiccanada.com/gold-platinum/?_gp_search=robin%20banks
  14. "UpTop Movement Inc".
  15. "Robin Banks Talks Toronto Rap Scene, Somali Culture, New Music, Police Shutting Down His Shows". YouTube. March 1, 2017.
  16. White, Patrick (April 13, 2017). "Toronto rapper Pressa stands before his make-or-break moment". The Globe and Mail.
  17. "Robin Banks releases the Still Here mixtape". HipHop Canada. March 5, 2018.
  18. https://www.hiphopcanada.com/tag/uptop-movementz/
  19. https://www.hiphopindiemusic.com/2020/09/uptop-movement-inc-northside-jane-2.html
  20. https://fomoblog.com/2020/10/09/up-top-movement-and-founder-bg-take-torontos-indie-hustle-around-the-world/
  21. https://allhiphop.com/breeding-ground/up-top-movement-and-founder-bgtake-torontos-indie-hustle-around-the-world/
  22. "Toronto man, 22, 'fighting for his life' after Woodbridge nightclub triple-shooting". CBC. April 3, 2017.
  23. "Robin Banks shot over $10k debt, taunted by shooter on Instagram for weeks". Somalispot. April 7, 2017.
  24. Queen, Lisa (July 26, 2017). "Suspect arrested in Vaughan shooting of rapper Robin Banks". York Region.
  25. "Robin Banks Is in Recovery from His Shooting, and He Needs Your Help". Vice. June 6, 2017.
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