WA Rapper Coin Banks Signs Deal With Sydney Label Low Key Source

Lauded Perth rapper Coin Banks has been keeping something of a low profile in recent months, but the Think Of You and Hatches scribe has stepped into the spotlight once again as the newest signing to Sydney label Low Key Source.

The new deal comes concurreent with the release of new single Be Real, which landed on Friday and marks the first of several planned releases for 2017, which include a new EP and new album. Banks' inclusion on the Low Key Source roster adds him to a growing cabal that includes Tall Black Guy, Raiza Biza, Street Corner Music and Diola.

Be Real is "inspired by the women around me who are afraid to be themselves" and "cover outsides in make-up and hide their true selves by being who they think people want them to be". The track has already garnered positive reviews for the WAMAward-winning artist in the short time since its release.

"The idea is that you are more beautiful when you are just who you are," Banks said of the song in a statement. "Nobody can ever be a better version of you than you."

The single follows the rapper's well-received dual EPs Heads and Tails, which — by design — demonstrated two distinct sides of Coin Banks' music, an exercise that he describes as being inspired by "what I like to listen to, from the Native Tongues movement to its modern-day equivalents like Top Dawg Entertainment: music that's bot stylistically original and tells a story".

"I got in touch with all of my favourite producers and developed a two-part release on which I could build a sound," he said. "I had some challenging life experiences in the past couple years, which has given me a lot of writing ammo, but now I am back with a lot of music and some great stories to tell."

With Be Real — which features Atom and Danny Martin, with production by Vanilla — maintaining Coin Banks' penchant for thoughtful, well-constructed tunes, expect the new partnership between the west-coast rapper and his new label to yield some truly evocative and exciting results over the next several months.

In the interim, feast your ears on the new goods below (or download/stream/purchase this way), and keep your eyes peeled for future announcements about his upcoming releases and other projects.