Artist: David BannerTitle: Mississippi: The AlbumRating: 4 StarsReviewed by: Yama Caviness
David Banner has been on his grind as a producer in the southern rap game for years. The Jackson, Mississippi native has worked with producers and artists such as Trick Daddy, Jazzey Pha, and Lil John (Lil John & The East Side Boyz). Finally, he saw the time fit to step out from behind the boards into his own as an artist. The result of that decision is his major label debut, Mississippi: The Album, out now on SRC/Universal Records which has the haters turning green with envy.
He brings some friends along, featuring familiar southern rappers such as Houston’s Lil’ Flip and A-Town’s Lil John and Pastor Troy, while Banner himself mostly handles the production. The first single, “Like a Pimp”, is already getting heavy rotation on radio stations nationwide and regularly voted onto BET’s 106 and Park. Lil’ Flip’s appearance is the perfect collaboration because his lazy, pimped out flow intensifies the hard beats. This strip club anthem definitely makes the “girls get down on the flo”. Some tracks like “Might Getcha” featuring Lil John (“Might getcha jaw broke, might getcha wig split/ Might getcha car shot up, might getcha door kicked”) and “F** Em” featuring Pastor Troy are the typical, violently crunk tracks that you would expect from a Mississippi native.
However, David Banner shows his mental and lyrical strength on several songs including “Mississippi” where the messages get deeper than the usual topics of money and hoes. On a slow, but bass hefty track Banner describes the Mississippi we’re all familiar with: “We from a place where the rebel flag still ain’t burnin/New schools, but the black kids still ain’t learning.” His versatility and style are also highlighted in “Choose Me” featuring Sky. This Billy Hume and Lil John produced mid-tempo song is the perfect combination of production, ghetto singing, and southern game, making it one of the strongest songs on the CD.
David Banner’s Mississippi: The Album is ground breaking for a debut major release and ‘the delta’ that he represents. Despite his rowdy crossover appeal, this release still ranks with other great, but regional albums like T.I.’s I’m Serious and Trick Daddy’s www.thug.com, which may not be familiar to everyone, but are legitimate hometown classics.
