David Banner has been on myspace (www.myspace.com/davidbanner) since 2005, he reluctantly joined facebook (David Banner fan page)in 2008. I'm pleased to announce that he has been "tweeting" since April 2009. He is still a newbie to the site so lets "follow" him at www.twitter.com/therealbanner
David has been very responsive so please show him some love!
Monday, May 4, 2009
David Banner guest speaker at NCCU Hip Hop Context class
Check out Mr. Banner dropping knowledge and sharing his experience at 9th Wonders Hip Hop class at NCCU.
Its Been Awhile!!
Im reactivating the blog.... Mr. Banner has been doing such poignant things since "The Greatest Story Ever Told" has dropped that I wanted to share and continue to contribute to his living legacy!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
David Banner Allhiphop Interview
By Ismael AbduSalaam
David Banner knows about struggle. Since his last album, 2005’s Certified, the rapper/activist had to deal with the traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina on his native Mississippi, attacks on Hip-Hop from the federal government, and his father’s death from cancer in 2007. Despite these hardships and thoughts of retirement, Banner has persevered. He was one of the few artists to testify before Congress last year defending Hip-Hop lyrics, and did so again recently on BET’s Hip-Hop vs. America.
Now with a new album, The Greatest Story Ever Told, scheduled for release on July 15, David Banner explains the apathy and hypocrisy of our culture, and why his will remains unbroken.
AllHipHop.com: How have you approached this record differently, if you have, from your last albums?
David Banner: It’s strange because initially my approach was just (making) hit records. Being that I produce myself I was trying to put as many back to back hits as I could. I know that nobody that’s on the level that I am is as close to the streets as I was when stuff got bad for me. So I was able to come back to the street and listen to what kids wanted and give it back to them.
Katrina had hit and the support still wasn’t there for music with political content. I thought this was what the world wanted from us? But then I realized they were a bunch of hypocrites so I just said f**k it I’m gonna focus on just hit records.
But then here comes George Bush and all of his antics and then this high ass gas. People on the streets I know never cared about politics start coming up to me saying ‘yo Banner we now understand what you talking about. We know you gonna bring it on this album. We can’t wait!’ And I ain’t have no politics on the album (laughs). It was straight stuntin’.
AllHipHop.com: So you felt you had to go back and modify it?
Banner: I trashed that whole album and made a new one called 13, which is like Outkast on crack. But then I realized the best David Banner is a synthesis of everything: the political, street, and experimentation.
The album is 22 tracks. And Universal is mad because I don’t have standard, mechanical tracks. But I was like f**k that we’re gonna give the people a quality album. If anybody says The Greatest Story Ever Told isn’t the greatest, there’s something they can do. They can close their eyes, pucker up, and allow me to push their face into rhinoceros balls…sweaty rhinoceros balls.
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel quality albums are missing in today’s market?
Banner: One of the reasons why music is so f**ked up is that people have been putting out so much trash lately. If people don’t buy into The Greatest Story Ever Told I don’t wanna hear these rules and regulations about how Hip-Hop is supposed to be and you want it to better. Naw, you just wanna continue to d**kride. This is the album people have been waiting for. If they don’t get it, I’ll go do a movie.
“The conversations me and RZA had were amazing, and I don’t think we could’ve had them say four years ago. I told him, 'Dude let me produce you. I know you’re a great producer but I got ideas that can work.' The problem with Hip-Hop is that everyone is Pro Tools or let me send you the track. That wasn’t the case with RZA, we were in the studio together and I think it will be a beneficial relationship for years to come.”
AllHipHop.com: You recently produced the RZA for his Digi Snacks (“Straight Up The Block”) album. Being that you’re a formidable producer in your own right, what did you guys pick up from each other?
Banner: It was a learning experience. With the lack of record sales everyone is coming back to their senses. It’s humbling for all of us. The conversations me and RZA had were amazing, and I don’t think we could’ve had them say four years ago. I told him, “Dude let me produce you. I know you’re a great producer but I got ideas that can work.” The problem with Hip-Hop is that everyone is Pro Tools or let me send you the track. That wasn’t the case with RZA, we were in the studio together and I think it will be a beneficial relationship for years to come.
AllHipHop.com: Katrina’s lingering devastation on Mississippi, New Orleans, and Alabama is out the public consciousness. Do you feel it’s due more to general apathy or the media just pushing it away.
Banner: I told everyone this would happen. We’re only concerned with what the media spoonfeeds us. We’re concerned about Sean Bell as long as it’s on CNN. We don’t seek anything on our own. The truth is we’re only emotional or speaking out if it’s on TV. So if they (the media) want it to stop they just turn it off. And then us (Hip-Hop media), we follow the big media outlets to keep our numbers up. And that’s some bulls**t.
AllHipHop.com: On the BET Hip-Hop vs. America men’s panel, you stated that there was a lot of ego-stroking being done, and when the cameras stopped everyone would just go about their business. Did that happen or were there steps taken to initiate action after the show.
Banner: Everyone exchanges numbers but there’s no follow up, but I knew that was what was gonna happen. That’s why I said it. “Y’all ain’t gonna do s**t but talk.”
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel there have been any ramifications from you speaking before Congress last year about lyrics in Hip-Hop music, or that it was mostly posturing on Congress’ part?
Banner: If we wouldn’t have stepped up some s**t would’ve happened. We showed that there are intelligent Black people in rap that will protect our form of music. But what I don’t understand is the people who do that type of music, the public won’t support them.
We don’t do s**t but talk and support the people who treat us like s**t. You repay us by purchasing our music.
But we see that all the time. Look at the families of Malcolm X and Tupac. They should be financially rich beyond belief for all that they’ve done for us but they’re not and everyone continues to eat off their legacies.
“Every artist that’s a real artist is crazier than a motherf**ker, all of them. Something ain’t right with me, Wayne, TIP, T-Pain, and 50. Andre 3000? Loony as a bat. But that’s the blessing.”
AllHipHop.com: How did the mixtape (The Greatest Mixtape Ever Sold) with Whoo Kid come about?
Banner: Whoo Kid is a funny motherf**ker. We’ve been cool for a minute since I had went on tour with 50 about three years ago. I don’t know if you heard the mixtape, but he put his foot in that s**t. Like your grandma from Mississippi does when she’s making gumbo. I got Chris Brown on there. People are gonna be surprised at the partnerships I’ve had that I’m finally showcasing.
AllHipHop.com: As an artist closely tied to the people, how much does that weigh on you when you’re making music since your constantly keeping their struggles in mind?
Banner: Every artist that’s a real artist is crazier than a motherf**ker, all of them. Something ain’t right with me, Wayne, TIP, T-Pain, and 50. Andre 3000? Loony as a bat. But that’s the blessing. It’s Ying and Yang. God blesses us to think on a different frequency and to act on it. And it’s not just in music, it registers in all facets of your life.
I wish I could make records like Eminem and Andre 3000, but if you don’t have Jimmy Iovine or LA Reid behind your project that s**t is gonna fail unless you push that s**t on n****s.
People fronted (on the first single) “Get Like Me (Stuntin Is a Habit)” until people like Big Von (KMEL), Stan Branson (JMI), Leo and Ms. Kitty (XM Radio) got on it. People say they want something different but they don’t support nothing different until it becomes mainstream.
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel that the tension that existed between the East and Southern Hip-Hop fans has finally cooled off?
“A southern rapper has never really gotten true credit for being a lyricist unless a New York rapper said it. People started accepting Wayne when Jay-Z said he was dope. Same thing with T.I. It happened to me with Nas. Nah, don’t filter me through another n***a. Accept me for doing dope for me.”
Banner: A lot of times it take a New York n***a to say some s**t is hot before we say, “Oh it’s hot.” N****s heard me on that Nas record (“Middle Finger U”) and all of sudden it’s, “Oh David Banner’s rapping and political now.” N***a I been political! That verse I spit on “9MM,” if Biggie would’ve said it it’d be a Hip-Hop quotable. But it takes me to get on a record with somebody from New York before y’all will hear or listen to it.
Think about it. A southern rapper has never really gotten true credit for being a lyricist unless a New York rapper said it. People started accepting Wayne when Jay-Z said he was dope. Same thing with T.I. It happened to me with Nas. Nah, don’t filter me through another n***a. Accept me for doing dope for me.
Why haven’t Andre 3000, Bun B, and Twista gotten their proper credit? Why are Scarface, 8Ball, and MJG not in the top 10?
AllHipHop.com: Now that the album is finished, have you been able to relax? Or does the fact that you say Hip-Hop fans don’t support different styles of music cause anxiety and resentment?
Banner: Man, I don’t give a f**k anymore. With (my last album) Certified, that s**t almost ran me crazy. I went through a really bad depression. I just knew that that album was the one. But that also showed that God was telling me, “I tell you what’s the one, not you.”
I did the best that I can and for the first time I’m proud of myself. If they accept it, great. But I know what the world is about. I know the world is a bunch of f**king hypocrites. Look at Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Andre 3000. White folks will jump on us and give us our praise first. I want my people to love me, but who have we shown that kinda love to before they died?
Comments
Source: http://allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2008/07/11/20279270.aspx
David Banner knows about struggle. Since his last album, 2005’s Certified, the rapper/activist had to deal with the traumatic effects of Hurricane Katrina on his native Mississippi, attacks on Hip-Hop from the federal government, and his father’s death from cancer in 2007. Despite these hardships and thoughts of retirement, Banner has persevered. He was one of the few artists to testify before Congress last year defending Hip-Hop lyrics, and did so again recently on BET’s Hip-Hop vs. America.
Now with a new album, The Greatest Story Ever Told, scheduled for release on July 15, David Banner explains the apathy and hypocrisy of our culture, and why his will remains unbroken.
AllHipHop.com: How have you approached this record differently, if you have, from your last albums?
David Banner: It’s strange because initially my approach was just (making) hit records. Being that I produce myself I was trying to put as many back to back hits as I could. I know that nobody that’s on the level that I am is as close to the streets as I was when stuff got bad for me. So I was able to come back to the street and listen to what kids wanted and give it back to them.
Katrina had hit and the support still wasn’t there for music with political content. I thought this was what the world wanted from us? But then I realized they were a bunch of hypocrites so I just said f**k it I’m gonna focus on just hit records.
But then here comes George Bush and all of his antics and then this high ass gas. People on the streets I know never cared about politics start coming up to me saying ‘yo Banner we now understand what you talking about. We know you gonna bring it on this album. We can’t wait!’ And I ain’t have no politics on the album (laughs). It was straight stuntin’.
AllHipHop.com: So you felt you had to go back and modify it?
Banner: I trashed that whole album and made a new one called 13, which is like Outkast on crack. But then I realized the best David Banner is a synthesis of everything: the political, street, and experimentation.
The album is 22 tracks. And Universal is mad because I don’t have standard, mechanical tracks. But I was like f**k that we’re gonna give the people a quality album. If anybody says The Greatest Story Ever Told isn’t the greatest, there’s something they can do. They can close their eyes, pucker up, and allow me to push their face into rhinoceros balls…sweaty rhinoceros balls.
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel quality albums are missing in today’s market?
Banner: One of the reasons why music is so f**ked up is that people have been putting out so much trash lately. If people don’t buy into The Greatest Story Ever Told I don’t wanna hear these rules and regulations about how Hip-Hop is supposed to be and you want it to better. Naw, you just wanna continue to d**kride. This is the album people have been waiting for. If they don’t get it, I’ll go do a movie.
“The conversations me and RZA had were amazing, and I don’t think we could’ve had them say four years ago. I told him, 'Dude let me produce you. I know you’re a great producer but I got ideas that can work.' The problem with Hip-Hop is that everyone is Pro Tools or let me send you the track. That wasn’t the case with RZA, we were in the studio together and I think it will be a beneficial relationship for years to come.”
AllHipHop.com: You recently produced the RZA for his Digi Snacks (“Straight Up The Block”) album. Being that you’re a formidable producer in your own right, what did you guys pick up from each other?
Banner: It was a learning experience. With the lack of record sales everyone is coming back to their senses. It’s humbling for all of us. The conversations me and RZA had were amazing, and I don’t think we could’ve had them say four years ago. I told him, “Dude let me produce you. I know you’re a great producer but I got ideas that can work.” The problem with Hip-Hop is that everyone is Pro Tools or let me send you the track. That wasn’t the case with RZA, we were in the studio together and I think it will be a beneficial relationship for years to come.
AllHipHop.com: Katrina’s lingering devastation on Mississippi, New Orleans, and Alabama is out the public consciousness. Do you feel it’s due more to general apathy or the media just pushing it away.
Banner: I told everyone this would happen. We’re only concerned with what the media spoonfeeds us. We’re concerned about Sean Bell as long as it’s on CNN. We don’t seek anything on our own. The truth is we’re only emotional or speaking out if it’s on TV. So if they (the media) want it to stop they just turn it off. And then us (Hip-Hop media), we follow the big media outlets to keep our numbers up. And that’s some bulls**t.
AllHipHop.com: On the BET Hip-Hop vs. America men’s panel, you stated that there was a lot of ego-stroking being done, and when the cameras stopped everyone would just go about their business. Did that happen or were there steps taken to initiate action after the show.
Banner: Everyone exchanges numbers but there’s no follow up, but I knew that was what was gonna happen. That’s why I said it. “Y’all ain’t gonna do s**t but talk.”
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel there have been any ramifications from you speaking before Congress last year about lyrics in Hip-Hop music, or that it was mostly posturing on Congress’ part?
Banner: If we wouldn’t have stepped up some s**t would’ve happened. We showed that there are intelligent Black people in rap that will protect our form of music. But what I don’t understand is the people who do that type of music, the public won’t support them.
We don’t do s**t but talk and support the people who treat us like s**t. You repay us by purchasing our music.
But we see that all the time. Look at the families of Malcolm X and Tupac. They should be financially rich beyond belief for all that they’ve done for us but they’re not and everyone continues to eat off their legacies.
“Every artist that’s a real artist is crazier than a motherf**ker, all of them. Something ain’t right with me, Wayne, TIP, T-Pain, and 50. Andre 3000? Loony as a bat. But that’s the blessing.”
AllHipHop.com: How did the mixtape (The Greatest Mixtape Ever Sold) with Whoo Kid come about?
Banner: Whoo Kid is a funny motherf**ker. We’ve been cool for a minute since I had went on tour with 50 about three years ago. I don’t know if you heard the mixtape, but he put his foot in that s**t. Like your grandma from Mississippi does when she’s making gumbo. I got Chris Brown on there. People are gonna be surprised at the partnerships I’ve had that I’m finally showcasing.
AllHipHop.com: As an artist closely tied to the people, how much does that weigh on you when you’re making music since your constantly keeping their struggles in mind?
Banner: Every artist that’s a real artist is crazier than a motherf**ker, all of them. Something ain’t right with me, Wayne, TIP, T-Pain, and 50. Andre 3000? Loony as a bat. But that’s the blessing. It’s Ying and Yang. God blesses us to think on a different frequency and to act on it. And it’s not just in music, it registers in all facets of your life.
I wish I could make records like Eminem and Andre 3000, but if you don’t have Jimmy Iovine or LA Reid behind your project that s**t is gonna fail unless you push that s**t on n****s.
People fronted (on the first single) “Get Like Me (Stuntin Is a Habit)” until people like Big Von (KMEL), Stan Branson (JMI), Leo and Ms. Kitty (XM Radio) got on it. People say they want something different but they don’t support nothing different until it becomes mainstream.
AllHipHop.com: Do you feel that the tension that existed between the East and Southern Hip-Hop fans has finally cooled off?
“A southern rapper has never really gotten true credit for being a lyricist unless a New York rapper said it. People started accepting Wayne when Jay-Z said he was dope. Same thing with T.I. It happened to me with Nas. Nah, don’t filter me through another n***a. Accept me for doing dope for me.”
Banner: A lot of times it take a New York n***a to say some s**t is hot before we say, “Oh it’s hot.” N****s heard me on that Nas record (“Middle Finger U”) and all of sudden it’s, “Oh David Banner’s rapping and political now.” N***a I been political! That verse I spit on “9MM,” if Biggie would’ve said it it’d be a Hip-Hop quotable. But it takes me to get on a record with somebody from New York before y’all will hear or listen to it.
Think about it. A southern rapper has never really gotten true credit for being a lyricist unless a New York rapper said it. People started accepting Wayne when Jay-Z said he was dope. Same thing with T.I. It happened to me with Nas. Nah, don’t filter me through another n***a. Accept me for doing dope for me.
Why haven’t Andre 3000, Bun B, and Twista gotten their proper credit? Why are Scarface, 8Ball, and MJG not in the top 10?
AllHipHop.com: Now that the album is finished, have you been able to relax? Or does the fact that you say Hip-Hop fans don’t support different styles of music cause anxiety and resentment?
Banner: Man, I don’t give a f**k anymore. With (my last album) Certified, that s**t almost ran me crazy. I went through a really bad depression. I just knew that that album was the one. But that also showed that God was telling me, “I tell you what’s the one, not you.”
I did the best that I can and for the first time I’m proud of myself. If they accept it, great. But I know what the world is about. I know the world is a bunch of f**king hypocrites. Look at Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, and Andre 3000. White folks will jump on us and give us our praise first. I want my people to love me, but who have we shown that kinda love to before they died?
Comments
Source: http://allhiphop.com/stories/features/archive/2008/07/11/20279270.aspx
Monday, July 7, 2008
Banner performing in NY July 17, 2008
Posted By:
A Place For Hip Hop
Hosted By::
A Place For Hip Hop
e-mail
When:
Thursday Jul 17, 2008
at 9:00 PM
Where::
Knitting Factory NYC
75 Leonard Street
New York, New York|33 10013
United States
View Map
FREE! All Ages. Bring a printout of your profile with DAVID BANNER in your top 8 starting at 5pm to the Knitting Factory to gain entry to the show. First come, First served. Doors close at capacity
A Place For Hip Hop
Hosted By::
A Place For Hip Hop
When:
Thursday Jul 17, 2008
at 9:00 PM
Where::
Knitting Factory NYC
75 Leonard Street
New York, New York|33 10013
United States
View Map
FREE! All Ages. Bring a printout of your profile with DAVID BANNER in your top 8 starting at 5pm to the Knitting Factory to gain entry to the show. First come, First served. Doors close at capacity
Friday, July 4, 2008
Banner not the angry black man after all!
Quote from allhiphip.com
On Friday in Biloxi, MS, Webbie was supposed to perform, but never showed up. That’s what I heard, at least. There was a good size crowd there and they were amped up about seeing Webbie, according to my sources. I also heard, nobody was too TOO disappointed, because the other performers were so on point. Juvenile opened up and really got the crowd going. Then David Banner gave the best performance of the night. He kept jumpin in the crowd while performing and taking pics with people and throwing water on the crowd and even pulled kids up on stage and let them sing his songs. Then a dude comes on the stage and tells Banner he’s got a mere seven minutes left. David gets mad and is like "What the fuck? This is my home!" The music shut down and Banner spazzes on them! He threatened to pour water on all of the equipment and the sound comes back! Luda closed the show and everybody was happy!
When is David Banner going to turn into the Hulk? Just a question.
All I have to say is,David Banner had every right to be angry. He was performing in Mississippi, so why wouldn't he be able to have more than seven minutes. Yet, if David Banner was the angry black man everyone professes him to be, he wouldnt have shown restraint and would have poured the water on the equipment. I think we need to give him credit for that and kudos for showing growth and maturity in the midst of hus pissivity.
source:http://allhiphop.com/stories/rumors/archive/2008/06/30/20242990.aspx
On Friday in Biloxi, MS, Webbie was supposed to perform, but never showed up. That’s what I heard, at least. There was a good size crowd there and they were amped up about seeing Webbie, according to my sources. I also heard, nobody was too TOO disappointed, because the other performers were so on point. Juvenile opened up and really got the crowd going. Then David Banner gave the best performance of the night. He kept jumpin in the crowd while performing and taking pics with people and throwing water on the crowd and even pulled kids up on stage and let them sing his songs. Then a dude comes on the stage and tells Banner he’s got a mere seven minutes left. David gets mad and is like "What the fuck? This is my home!" The music shut down and Banner spazzes on them! He threatened to pour water on all of the equipment and the sound comes back! Luda closed the show and everybody was happy!
When is David Banner going to turn into the Hulk? Just a question.
All I have to say is,David Banner had every right to be angry. He was performing in Mississippi, so why wouldn't he be able to have more than seven minutes. Yet, if David Banner was the angry black man everyone professes him to be, he wouldnt have shown restraint and would have poured the water on the equipment. I think we need to give him credit for that and kudos for showing growth and maturity in the midst of hus pissivity.
source:http://allhiphop.com/stories/rumors/archive/2008/06/30/20242990.aspx
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Banner doing his thing on the charts!
"Get Like Me" is #12 on MTV's Sucka Free Countdown. Good stuff as he was #14 last week!
Banner at Apple Store in Atlanta
I decided to venture to Atlanta for the show at the Apple Store at Lenox Square.
I have never seen Banner perform live and I have to say, he lived up to my expectations and then some!
I have never seen Banner perform live and I have to say, he lived up to my expectations and then some!
Friday, June 27, 2008
David Banner in Biloxi tonight!
Biloxi Coliseum
DOORS OPEN AT 6PM
No Cameras / No Recorders
WITH:
LUDACRIS
AND SPECIAL GUESTS
Juvenile
David Banner
Webbie
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Shawty Say - Banner featuring Lil' Wayne
Shawty Say video shoot! Click the title of the blog to listen to the song!!!
David Banner,BET’s Hip-Hop vs. America II ‘Where Did The Love Go’
Whether you agree with Banner or not you have to admit that he is never at a loss for words. I respect the fact that he stands for something when many people are bandwaggon jumper-oners, or dick-riders! But conversely, My advise to Banner is: Baby, we all see and feel your passion! We know that you are an intelligent black man! We do! I think that because you are so vocal and so strong, you have the tendency (in some eyes) to come off as angry and a lot of what you say gets lost in translation. What you say is relevant but its all about delivery! That comes with growth and you will get there. You will learn the art of not wearing your heart on your sleeve all of the time.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Banner shooting video in L.A. today!
Hey Banner buffs, He is shooting the video for "Shawty Say" today. Video being directed by Uly Terrero ("Get Like Me" director) Can't wait to see this one!!
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