The whole goal of The Masked Gorilla has always been to be the young voice of the hip hop scene, shining a light on the emerging talent you wouldn't hear of other wise. In this fast-paced blogging world, a high level of importance is placed on posting content exactly when it comes out. If it's posted minutes, let alone hours, after it was released I can expect comments from viewers crucifying us for being "late." Even in that environment, we expose you to new young rappers more frequently than other other hip hop site on the internet.
It can be difficult sometimes however. For example, Tyler, The Creator's first post here on TMG was on February 12th, 2011 for his "Yonkers" music video. Three months earlier, that past November, I wrote a story about Earl Sweatshirt and Tyler for my local newspaper. Between that article and "Yonkers" there just wasn't any significant "new" content from Tyler to justify a post on TMG. That same situation happens more than you would think. So it's been clear that The Masked Gorilla needs a feature where we can expose you to a new rapper when we find him, not when he releases new content after we find him. This new feature is called 'Recruited', you're currently reading the first installment.
Robb Bank$ is an emerging rapper from South Florida, who's slight mysteriousness is the effect of his work in one way or another. With no active Facebook or Twitter page the self-proclaimed 'Tumblr God' functions out of, yup you guessed it Tumblr. With gold teeth, a southern accent and raps filled with lean references, the easy comparison would be to fellow new school rapper A$AP Rocky. The Miami rapper makes it clear that he's not on the "trill-wave" though, but rather under the "savage" influence. What's the difference? We're not sure. But Bank$'s lyrics are filled with subtle and sometimes not so subtle attempts to separate himself from any of those aforementioned comparisons.
In "Counting" Bank$ raps: "You A$AP Rocky, i'm more Aesop Rock." We wouldn't take it that far, but in a current scene where you are either A) a conscious rapper, or B) a swag rapper, Robb Bank$ could possibly be the perfect mix of the two, C) all of the above.
That track appeared his 'Calendars' mixtape, which is complied of fourteen tracks (each being named after a month with exception of the intro and outro). The tape is by far the most comprehensive project of his young career. You can listen to that entire mixtape, along with downloading it in full, below.
DOWNLOAD: Robb Bank$ – Calendars (Mixtape) | ALT Download Link For Non-Mac Users
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