Ricky Earl Banton (b. October 30 1996), professionally known as Dirtbike LB (Dirtbike Lil Bantz) is a British rapper from Lewisham, South London. He is the frontrunner of British Hip-Hop collective D-Block Europe, with Young Adz. Alongside Adz, they are often credited as pioneers of the UK trapwave genre.
Though never interested in music, LB was a big part of Young Adz’s journey from as young as 13 years old, when he first came into the rap game and only started rapping to keep Adz on track and fulfil his potential. After Adz was dropped from a Universal deal at the age of 15 for his trouble with the law, it was LB’s brother who made the link with legendary New York rapper Jadakiss, who later set up D-Block Europe – the European staple of his label D-Block Records.
LB has released a total number of five projects with D-Block Europe, including the 2018 collaboration mixtape with Custom House, East London artist Yxng Bane titled Any Minute Now, as well as acclaimed mixtapes Home Alone, PTSD and Street Trauma, all dropping in 2019. Their debut studio album The Blue Print: Us vs. Them dropping in 2020.
As a solo artist, Dirtbike LB has collaborated with artists such as Chip and Frosty.
