Houston's Own Byron Bank Releases New EP

Growing up on the Southeast side of Houston as a child, Byron Bank watched QVC with his grandmother, and when he spoke up about wanting a keyboard she was all in. He joined the band and hasn’t looked back since, taking his music career serious after college. Like most aspiring MCs, he was influenced by 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G and Jay-Z, although he also reached back into the rap archives to grab inspiration from the likes of Rakim and Souls of Mischief. But don’t be fooled; his Houston roots are embedded with Scarface, Lil Keke, Fat Pat and UGK of course.

He has opened for Mike Jones, Lil Scrappy, Paul Wall and Slim Thug throughout the years of his grind, and with new management and moving in a new direction, he will release his new EP “Metamorphosis” to close out March on a good note, just barely a year after his 17-track album “Current Situations.” When asked about the metamorphosis of Byron Bank, the artist was quick to explain that it’s about “the brand.” The EP will consists of five tracks showcasing the change and evolution Bank has undergone since his last project.

“Before I was only focused on the music and just doing music, now i am just focused on my brand, my career, imaging, movies, I am in acting and acting classes,” he says, signing up with known agencies in Houston like Page Parks and Nine9. “I think I found my sound and the purpose of Metamorphosis is rebranding.”  

The first song is “S.W.A.G.,” which stands for ‘successful, wise, ambitious, gentleman,’ according to Bank. Track two is “Wipe it Off,” wherein Bank encourages listeners to disregard the shade and hate that’s so often thrown their way, and to simply ‘wipe it off.’ The third song is “Dirty Secrets,” which Bank believes “speaks for itself,” followed up with the fourth track, titled “Random Thoughts.” The EP closes out on a more serious note with “Bending Knee,” which takes a more political outlook, pinpointing touchy subjects such as racism, injustice and police brutality, and the situation of Colin Kaepernick and the kneeling movement with poetic lyrics and gospel-like production.

The road to metamorphosis wasn’t always good times, particularly when Bank was trying to get his career off the ground. Looking back at how far he’s come, Bank was able to reflect on the time when he was recording the project “The Withdrawal,” and his career was in a notably rocky place, but once the door was opened he never closed it.

“That is why it was named that, at the time this was it for me, I’m not doing nothing else no more.” he explained. “I [was] going to give this shit up and leave it alone but the music would not let me do it.”

Luckily the door has stayed open for Bank, and thanks to the success of his previous projects he was able to land an endorsement with Vinci, the new and innovative headphone company reshaping the way people enjoy music on the go. Their latest design, Vinci 2.0 connects Amazon’s Alexa to the earphones with voice and gesture activation. This partnership makes sense for Bank, given his passion for pushing music forward.

“As an artist, I’m about making music that people can relate to,” he said. “I want to bring the modern style back to the classic hip-hop sound. I’m about saying what others are afraid to say and that’s taking chances while asking for forgiveness later.”

His new EP Metamorphosis is available now on major streaming platforms now.