David Banner - The Greatest Story Ever Told

David Banner came on my radar a couple years ago on the Like A Pimp single with L'il Flip. It was, as the kids say, a banger, and brought a fair amount of shine to Banner. His first record was called Mississippi, The Album. It sold respectably, but the second record was rushed out, as was a screwed and chopped version. Neither sold all that well, but Banner was stepping up his production game behind the scenes and things seemed pretty promising.

Then Katrina hit. While New Orleans took it's fair share, Banner's home state of Mississippi was hit just as hard. Perhaps even more so, as there wasn't a singular event for the media to latch on to. Banner dropped out of the public eye for a bit but worked tirelessly to shine a light on the plight of Mississippi post-Katrina and appeared in front of Congress to testify about African American Media Stereotypes when he wasn't castigating Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson.

He also managed to put a record together. In the early part of the year, word started trickling out about the new release and the title was to be The Greatest Story Ever Told. Everyone loves an allusion, but arguably none more than Saigon, who had claimed to be naming his Atlantic debut the very same title. Granted, Sai-Gitty had been claiming that for years but the record never appeared, so it looks like our boy DB is trumping the Yardfather on this one.

But what about the music? Banner is claiming that The Greatest Story Ever Told is the best hip-hop record in the last three years. The first single 9mm (or Speaker, for those with more delicate sensibilities) with Akon and Snoop did well and the second single Get Like Me is blowing up, so we'll see how the buying public feel about that statement. I'd say it's the best Banner record yet. It's pretty strong, but get back to me about that whole 'best' thing. I'm tempted to disagree, but can't come up with a better record that isn't a reissue. While I sort that out, check out the David Banner website here. More links below.

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David Banner web portal
DB online social networking mechanism