Tye Banks is truly in a unique situation at this point in his career. With his new album (plus three ring tones) available for $1.99, Banks understands the gift of making music for different audiences. With a little something for everybody, Banks has allowed himself to build quite a loyal fan base in his town of North Carolina.

And how many rappers can say their currently involved in a law suit with a professional hockey team? Probably only Tye Banks -- read all about his ongoing law suit with the Carolina Hurricanes below and much more.

Tye Banks MySpace - www.myspace.com/tyebanksmusic  

Interview: We are here with Tye Banks. We want to give the fans some background information for those who are unaware of your story. How are you doing? Tell our readers what it was like growing up in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Tye Banks: I’m good. North Carolina is a cool place.  Raleigh is the melting pot of NC since a lot of people come from up north, out west, and from further down south to here because of all the colleges in the area.  I‘m from Southeast Raleigh which is like any other hood out there but I had a lot of fun growing up.  I played a lot of sports as a kid like basketball, football, and baseball.  Looking back now, I should have stuck with baseball.  I was better at that than the other sports but I ended up playing a lot of recreational basketball like a lot of guys did.  Southeast Raleigh is going through a transformation now.  Certain parts were rougher back then than they are now but there have always been good people there.

Interview: I listened to a couple of your records. Growing up and being a fan of music, who your influences?

Tye Banks: I have a lot of musical influences.  We use to have go-go bands come here all the time. Plus my aunt did a lot of party promotions and other events at nightclubs so I was around performers and musicians all the time. But in hip-hop Ice Cube comes to mind right off. I look at Ice Cube and others that influence me with not just their music, but the business they do as well. Like Baby, T.I., Jay Z, LL Cool J, OutKast, E-40 and all the collaborations that he does.  Growing up I use to listen to Public Enemy, Ghetto Boys, EPMD, A Tribe called Quest, Digital Underground, Snoop,  Dr. Dre, anybody I could get my hands on!

Interview: I like that. One record I heard of yours was “Good Time” on your website. I particularly watched a video of you performing that live. That record reminded me of some old school hip-hop. Is that a style you portray yourself with?

Tye Banks: Sometimes it is –For example, when I did “Living a Dream”, I thought it was best to show my range in creating different types of songs for different people.  “Good Time” has that grown folks’ hip-hop feel. And the reason why I say that is because a lot of people over 30 say that hip-hop doesn’t speak to them anymore. They’re still fans of the music but they feel like current hip-hop just doesn’t speak to them. I made that song for them, for cookouts, chilling and just riding around in the car. It’s something everybody can listen to. But my overall style is more southern

Interview: Tell our readers about the “I’m Still Cool” single.

Tye Banks: “I’m Still Cool” was the lead song for the indie feature film “Nerds of Steele”. It’s a great song I think because a lot of people can relate to it.  It’s basically saying it’s always cool to just be you and I think that’s underrated nowadays. I wrote the song with Hylandah and we basically modeled the song around three things – people we know, some things we’ve both experienced, and one of the main characters in the film.  The song was a semi-finalist for the International Songwriting Competition’s (ISC) R&B/Hip Hop category and the video got tremendous airplay on video shows and in retail outlets throughout the US and Canada. 

Interview: These records we’re talking about our on your “Living a Dream” sophomore album. Why did you decide to title the album what you did?

Tye Banks: Because no matter what happens in my life, I got to do what I got to do to make my dreams come true so I can be happy.  Making music, acting…these are things that I had dreamed of doing and I’m actually doing them.  It’s incredible.  And right now, a lot of people are taking their lives into their own hands and doing the same because of the economy.  They are starting new careers and trying things they never dreamed of doing or always wanted to do. It’s a great time to invest in you - that’s the best investment of them all. That’s why I feel like I’m “Living a Dream” and I hope people get inspired by that and start living their dreams as well. 

Interview: That’s a great thing. How can the fans get their hands on the album?

Tye Banks: They can get it at my website www.TyeBanks.com, and through iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby, Zune, etc. They can also listen to the album on Last.fm, Rhapsody, and Pandora. The “I’m Still Cool” music video was featured on Pandora’s video series. I also have other music videos on my website and I’m running a special right now where people can get the whole digital album plus three ringtones for $1.99 for a limited time.

Interview: Ok. We’re going to get into the Carolina Hurricanes situation. For those who don’t know, the Carolina Hurricanes are a professional NHL hockey team. I read the story but I want you to tell it. You wrote and presented them a song twice actually, an original and then final recording on two separate occasions. They liked the second one and you can take it from there.

Tye Banks: They liked the second one and the agreement was they would play the song at the arena during their home games and put my name and website on the Jumbotron when the song was played. That way fans would know who made the song and where to get it.  But to their own admission, they never put my name or website up there.  They played my song for two years but never put my name up when the song was playing. I would ask people had they heard the “Carolina Hurricanes” rap song and they would say, “Yeah, I like that song”. When I would say it was me they would look at me like I was lying. Then I found out the song was being used in a commercial and a viral video and I never gave them permission to do any of that. So when I said something about it they said they would sue me for wearing a team jersey, if I took it any further. And that’s where we’re at right now. It’s a crazy ride (laughs).

Interview: You were disappointed with the fact that they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain. They didn’t put your information up on the Jumbotron and they were using the song in commercials, which you never agreed to give them permission for. They were angry that you wore a jersey and they felt that sort of made it seem like you have a connection to their organization.

Tye Banks:  They’re actually saying I caused them “irreparable harm”. Man that’s just crazy. A lot of people that know me here in Raleigh know that I work with autistic kids and I also do work in gang prevention. I try to be as positive as possible. I come from a neighborhood that was really drug and crime infested when I grew up and I still got myself through college. I know all about the situations young urban kids go through and the things they deal with. I come from that environment.  And I’m trying to build it up not tear it down.  So when they say I’m causing them harm, that’s crazy to me. They played my song for two years and put it in a commercial - was I causing harm then or just when I was seen in that jersey? You tell me.

But what’s crazy is how some people went really hard at me on the internet (laughs). I want everybody to know when I wrote that song I envisioned kids jumping around and singing along and getting the crowd hyped. I was going for the reaction like “Who Let the Dogs Out” and “Ice Cream and Cake”. It wasn’t meant to be a high content lyric-heavy song. It’s a fun song.

Interview: You were angry they didn’t hold up their end of the bargain and went outside of the agreement and they were angry that you were wearing the jersey. Which side contacted which first with their complaints?

Tye Banks: I was disappointed that they didn’t hold up their end but the commercial was going too far. That’s a whole different ballgame right there. I wasn’t aware that it was running in a commercial. So when people told me that they heard my song on some Carolina Hurricanes commercial it was time to contact them.

Interview: It’s an issue that is still going on. Are you aware if the song still plays today?

Tye Banks: I’m not aware of them still playing it today since they were sent a cease and desist letter.

Interview: The overall picture of this is for you to receive that publishing?

Tye Banks: Well the whole thing is that they didn’t even get my permission to use the song beyond playing it at the arena, not just that I didn’t get paid for it.  I didn’t even get credit for my own song.  And then they said I gave them permission to use the song for whatever they wanted. Now what would I get out of agreeing to that?  Nothing. The whole purpose of the song was for it to be played in the arena and help promote the team and me at the same time. Even when you listen to the song, the focus is on the arena and everybody having fun at the game.

Interview: It’s definitely an on going issue. We wish you the best of luck because it’s definitely a crazy situation. Moving away from that, being from North Carolina and being a hip-hop artist, what do you think about J Cole?

Tye Banks: OK thanks.  As for J-Cole, I like J-Cole, he got some hot music. I think he’s going to be huge. Jay-Z was very smart to grab him (laughs). But that’s North Carolina for you. That’s something people outside the Carolina don’t understand. We have so many sounds. You have me, J Cole, Petey Pablo, Small World, Little Brother, Orie from Raleigh North, Twip and his band Larry Smiff and the Triangle Funk Squad, Al Chancy, J-Bully - all of us are doing our own thing. Anytime one of us is doing something good, I support it 100%. I get inspired by it.

Interview: What’s up next for Tye Banks?

Tye Banks: We have a lot going on like that special I mentioned earlier: the whole Living a Dream digital album plus three ringtones for $1.99 at www.tyebanks.com/music. I plan on shooting a video for my next single “Scream Cackalack”.  I’m also working with Hylandah on her EP.  I’m in the process of writing a script for a feature length film. I don’t want to give away the story just yet (laughs) but it does involve hip-hop. I have a role in the film “Fish Hook” which is in production now. We should start back shooting at the end of February. If you come to www.tyebanks.com you can keep up with what’s going on with me.

Interview: I appreciate your time Tye. I hope everybody visits the website and picks up the album. Tye Banks is making good music and he truly represents what a real independent company is. Do you have any last words before I let you go?

Tye Banks: I want to thank you for this opportunity and thank everybody for checking out the site, listening to my music, and supporting me. All the fans that come out to the shows that hit me up on my MySpace and Facebook - y’all really make it for real for me. Even if I only had three fans (laughs), y’all make it for real. I also want to thank Hylandah, Watkinz Da General, Sci-Fi, my friends and family. And thanks to everybody for reading.

Interview: Make sure you check out Tye Banks at his official MySpace, www.myspace.com/tyebanksmusic

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