DAVID BANNER WORDS: JULIA BEVERLY
PHOTOS: JARO VACEK
W
hen you originally got signed to SRC/Universal, there was a lot of hype around your “$10 million dollar deal.” Was that accurate? It was very misleading. That’s not what you get in your pocket; nowhere close to what you get in your pocket. That $10 million is over five albums: every flyer, every video, every rental car, every radio ad, every poster, everything you do during those five albums.
do. My album dropped the same week that Katrina happened and a bunch of other shit happened. But for the first time in my career, I’m free. I’m not dictated by an album. I’m doing movies; really, really big movies. I’m back in the production game. One thing I’ve been blessed with is the fact that this rap shit don’t run me. I’m able to do so much. God’s blessed me with so much that I’m able to dictate my own career. So I’m really happy with the results because it did damn well.
So who perpetuated that hype? Who’s idea was it to put out that “$10 million” figure? That’s not really important because I don’t like to bring other people into it. I think it was a mistake, and at the time, I should’ve stopped it. So I take full responsibility for that. People have a tendency to treat you differently when they think you have all that money. When I look at Dave Chappelle, I feel for him. I feel so bad for the shit he went through when that “$50 mil” got thrown out there and the pressures that came on him. And folks don’t care if you say, “Nah, bruh, that ain’t true.” If they read it somewhere, they gon’ believe it. One of the reasons I want to talk about this is because I don’t want these young rappers to be throwing their money out there and talking about what they’re getting, especially when it ain’t true. There’s a certain level of responsibility that comes with that. Not that anybody should be counting your fuckin’ money anyway, but it’s a lot of responsibility that comes with saying you’ve got that amount of money. The pressure comes from friends, family, whoever. It’s a lot of pressure for one person to handle.
What are the “big movies” you’re speaking of? I’m auditioning for some big movies. I’ve been offered a couple big things and I’ve got a really big movie in the works. But I really don’t like to talk about stuff til it’s actually happened. There’s a lot of potential, but you should never brag on stuff because it might not come true. That was one of the problems I had; there was a lot of things I counted on happening that didn’t happen, and people are waiting on you. People believe in you so you’ve gotta keep your word and don’t say shit til it’s actually ready to happen. I don’t blame nobody for nothing now, cause it ain’t nobody’s fault. It’s my fault, every time. I’m the man, this is my career. Mississippi is my state. I don’t expect no help from nobody. Ain’t nobody your friend. As long as God gives me air to breathe, it’s on.
So at what point did you decide you wanted to dispel that idea that you had millions of dollars? It wasn’t ever my idea to put it out there like that, but I didn’t stop it when it happened, and that was my fault. It’s bad when people stop looking at you as a person. It’s just like Dave Chappelle said on TV: it’s sorta like Bugs Bunny when they were stranded on the island, and folks started looking at each other like they’re food. That’s sort of the feeling I had. I want the young cats to know: bro, keep your personal business out of this rap shit. It ain’t nobody’s business what you’ve got. Keep it to yourself, feel me? If you don’t want people to have that perception of you, why buy a Bentley? Why show your house on MTV Cribs? That’s my business. That’s the problem. People get into an artist’s life too much. I can buy a fuckin’ Bentley if I want to, but that don’t mean I’ve got ten million dollars. I can look good and buy a chain if I want to, but that don’t mean I got ten million dollars. Speaking of that, why don’t you wear jewelry? I don’t wear jewelry because my mission is a lot bigger. I still like going into the hood. I still want to be able to go hood to hood, and it’s sorta hard to do that when you got $10, 20, 30 thousand dollars on your wrist and people can’t eat. But this year, I’ma bust they heads, straight up. I’ma shine on these muthafuckers. I’m gonna give folks what they want. Watch. Watch David Banner this year, quote, unquote. And you need to put in your magazine, “Most phenomenal feat of all muthafuckin’ time.” The beginning of a new era starts right fuckin’ now with this interview. So read it and get prepared for the fuckin’ future. So out of your five-album deal with SRC/Universal, you’ve released three so far? Right. The fourth album is gonna be straight street shit, what people expect from David Banner. I experimented and let people know my depth and my range, and now it’s time to get back to that Mississippi: The Album. It’ll be my first album, multiplied by ten, with the experience that I have and the knowledge that I have. My beats are ten times better and my rhymes are ten times better now. Honestly, I think I’m better than I give myself credit for. Most of these muthafuckers in the game can’t fuck with me, and I’m about to show that. How do you feel about the response to your last album Certified? Aw, man, I feel great about it. To me, it was like, God puts you through certain things and allows you to see what you have the potential to
A few of your labelmates at SRC, like Remy Ma and Grandaddy Souf, have been pretty vocal with the issues they have with the label. Have you experienced any similar problems or do you feel where they’re coming from? Hell yeah. I’m pissed off. You gotta really think about it: I made SRC. I started SRC. Nobody gives me credit for that. Nobody cut me a check. If it wasn’t for me, SRC wouldn’t have got on its feet at all. So I feel like I deserve a little bit more, but it ain’t up to no other man to make my career. Steve Rifkind doesn’t make me. I was a success before I met Steve Rifkind and I’m gonna be a success after Steve Rifkind. I’m not trippin’ on him. It’s not his fault. I’m not blaming him for nothing. If they don’t do what they need to do, I’m gonna get off my ass and make a buzz myself. But yeah, I was mad. I can’t lie. Hell yeah, I was mad. Mad at what, exactly? Mad at the way my shit was handled. But I’m not trippin’ about that because you gotta think about it, Julia. Me and you are similar in a lot of ways. Since the day I first met you, we always ran our own shit. And that’s something I want you to put in this magazine: don’t stop running OZONE the way you run it. You delegate your business to other people, but run it the same way you ran it when you started. You just cyberspace the shit; upgrade your pimpin’. I’m not gonna stop doing what I used to do. It’s up to me to make my shit hot. It’s up to me to get out there and make my shit happen because record companies don’t do it no more. Do you think any artist – not just on SRC but in general – is happy with the way their project is handled? You’ll notice that the artists and the labels that are successful are the ones that get off their ass and do it themselves and hire their own radio teams and street teams and stop complaining about what muthafuckers are not doing. I’m not gonna complain no more. This is my fault. Put that in bold writing. It’s my fault; I take full responsibility for my life. Watch what’s about to happen in my life. You keep this magazine running and watch what David Banner’s about to do. Watch me. Sit back and watch this shit unfold and you better be ready to write a muthafuckin’ book about me, I’m telling you. Hmm. What’s the plan? I’m not gonna lay the pimpin’ out. I just told you, you don’t talk about stuff until it’s time. It’s not time yet. It’s just starting, and anything can happen to stop it. A lot of people don’t want to see me successful because I’m a threat. I’m a walking corporation. I don’t need nobody to make my beats for me. I make my beats. I don’t need nobody to write my rhymes for me. I write my rhymes. I don’t need nobody to go get radio for me. I got friends in radio. DJs are my homeboys and homegirls. OZONE
75