“Home To Me,” featuring rapper/singer D.MO, is a single off Sterling Banks’ new album Thirty. The track, an R&B style duet between Banks, a singer/songwriter from Minneapolis, and R&B crooner D.MO, also Minneapolis-based, sees Banks showcasing her pop sensibilities. D.MO is also featured on the album’s opening track, “For The Summer,” while other Minneapolis-based artists such as Odd Coal and Chris Buttshaw take over feature duties on other album cuts.
On Facebook, Banks is unapologetic in expressing her artistry and personality. Her bio says, “Giving you all the feels with my truthful and empowering music,” and describes her sound as “saucy.” Her style is a competent mix of pop, R&B, and hip-hop, reflecting her diverse skillset and musical palette.
Collaborator D.MO is making a name for himself as a rap-sung hybrid similar to Nbdy and Zai1k. His songs “last summer” and “17,” currently sitting at just over and under 50,000 streams on Spotify respectively, show him riding the pop-punk wave to solid effect: “You pull out my heart like guitar strings in times when you help me when I am down.” He also performed well and had evident chemistry with Odd Coal on Coal’s song “glow.”
On a song like “Billy G.O.A.T,” Banks is confident and, as she described, “saucy.” From the opening lines on the trap-infused piano track, her musical intentions are clear: “I’m feelin’ bad as f***. I’m feelin’ dangerous. Might just get tatted up… make you come bang with us.” But on “Home To Me,” she is grounded and earnest.
In the music video, Banks and D.MO goof around by the pool, running around the city, cruising through the suburbs, and at the roller rink, reveling in the story of two people in love. Banks sets the tone on the first verse, barely squeaking the words out as she gushes: “I call you up when I’m missing home. You are the house to my broken soul.” On the chorus, she says she’s in it for the long haul: “I am not leaving if you’re coming home to me.”
D.MO nails the vibe and overall feel of the song, and matches Banks’ energy in the video with his sweet smile and chill demeanor: “I stay up late until the morning light, I think I saw you in my dreams. I got this feeling that I can’t deny, your radiance washes over me.” When he inserts himself into the second chorus, it’s game over. They both, at least for now, see no one except for the person in front of them.
Stream Banks’ album Thirty:
