Hip Hop from New Orleans LA With a new pair of sneakers on and a scarf tied around his microphone, Alfred Banks (Formerly Lyriqs da Lyraciss) adds a touch of individualism to hip-hop. From his reputation for his great live shows, to his personal style of music, Lyriqs seems to have found the best formula for his kind of success. So what does the future hold for a rapper/writer/promoter like Alfred? Well, it’s just as bright as he is? Raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Alfred was offered a full scholarship to Loyola University New Orleans and decided to accept because of their strong music industry program. For a while, Alfred was able to balance a day job, school work and music, but becoming homeless was the key factor in him leaving Loyola after 2 1/2 years. But not before collaborating with Loyola graduate and bay area superstar G-Eazy to which Alfred’s biggest song “My Style” (Produced by G-Eazy) was created. With over 15k plays on Pandora and over 5k plays on Spotify, the buzz garnered from this song enabled Alfred to release his debut album “The Nobody’s Monologues 2” With the release of Monologues 2, Alfred released 3 music videos for the songs “My Style”, ” Underdogcentral” and “Do it For”. The views for these videos skyrocketed with posts on MTV.Com, Kevinnottingham.com and SmokingSection.net. Around this time, Lyriqs created “UnderDogCentral”. The term’s definition is “The place where the over looked go to hone their skills to return and become the admired.” This is a mantra that Alfred lives by and is apparent as the handle for all his social networks. As for his live show, Alfred has a reputation for an electric performance and thus its become his bread and butter. Alfred Banks has toured all over the country playing big stages at festivals like A3C in Atlanta, Ga and Sxsw in Austin, Tx and opening for the likes of Lupe Fiasco, Mac Miller, Chris Brown, Wu-tang Clan, Stalley and even a 15 city run dubbed “The Red Or Blue Pill Tour” with Former XXL freshman Mickey Factz. Media heavy weight “Complex Magazine” took notice of Alfred’s work and featured him on their “Top 10 Up and coming Emcees from New orleans.”