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David Banner

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This article is about a musician. For information about the Marvel Comics character, see Hulk.

David Banner
David Banner in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Levell Crump
Born	1973
Origin	Jackson, Mississippi, U.S.
Genre(s)	Rap/Hip-Hop Dirty South Crunk Snap Music R&B Rapcore
Occupation(s)	Rapper, actor, record producer, record label executive, philanthropist
Years active	1999 - present
Label(s)	SRC, Universal Records, Def Jam South, Bigface
Associated acts	Crooked Lettaz, Yung Wun, Chamillionaire
Website	www.david-banner.com

David Banner (born Levell Crump in 1973) is an American rapper, occasional actor, record producer, record label executive, and philanthropist. He takes his name from the lead character of the 1970s/80s CBS television series The Incredible Hulk.^[1]^[2]

1 Biography
2 Discography
- 2.1 Studio albums
- 2.2 Singles
3 Filmography
4 Selected production credits
5 References
6 External links

Biography

Personal life

Banner was born in Jackson, Mississippi. He graduated from John W. Provine High School in Jackson, MS and is a graduate of Southern University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. While there, he served as president of the Student Government Association.^[3] Banner's Father, Zeno Crump Jr. died June 17, 2007. Well known in Jackson, MS as a former District Fire Chief for 25 years, service attendance included Banner himself, and an extended list of friends and family. Several months later, on October 25, 2007, Banner's grandmother Thelma Dixon also died in Brookhaven, MS. She was 83 years old.

Career

His first major-label album, Mississippi: The Album, went gold and was a critical and commercial success, largely due to the success of lead single, "Like A Pimp (Featuring Lil' Flip)", as well as more introspective album tracks such as "Cadillacs On 22's" and "Mississippi." It features Lil Flip and Lil Jon in the album. The following album, MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water, was completed in two weeks at the behest of SRC executive Steve Rifkind. His fourth album, Certified was released on September 20, 2005, after repeated delays. Album appearances include Twista, Jadakiss, Jagged Edge, BG, Jazze Pha, Too Short, Bun B, and others. In 2006 Banner appeared from DJ Shadow's The Outsider entitled "Seein' Thangs". The track features comments on the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina. He is also the creator of the main theme to the game Saints Row.^[4] He currently remains signed to SRC. In November 2006, Banner was awarded a Visionary Award by the National Black Caucus of the State Legislature in recognition of his work after Hurricane Katrina. This move was criticized by conservatives within the state, as well as some civil rights leaders, who Banner has accused of failing to adequately aid Mississippi.^[5] Banner played the part of Tehronne in Black Snake Moan. He has also worked on the new Adult Swim cartoon show That Crook'd 'Sipp, which premiered Sunday, May 13. His single "Play" was used as the background music in the pilot's first television promo. Banner is the credited executive producer of the show, and also acts as the voice of Virgil "Big Verge" Gibson, the show's main character & narrator.^[6] It has been announced that Banner has auditioned for a role in the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight but lost the role to Michael Jai White.^[7] On September 25, 2007, David Banner testified in congress in a hearing about African American Media Stereotypes,^[8] which was aired nationally on C-Span 2. He spoke about his lyrics and whether or not they are appropriate or stereotypical. He argued that his lyrics explain the pain blacks go through. In his opening statement, Banner was applauded by several in attendance for saying, "I can admit there are some problems in Hip-Hop but it is only a reflection of whats taking place in our society. Hip-Hop is sick because America is sick." Banner was recently featured on the cover of the November issue of Ozone magazine ^[9] Banner recently released a song named 'B.A.N' (Bitch Ass Niggas), which appears to be in response to rapper T.I's recent arrest over gun possession charges and Micheal Vick's charges. The song appears to be directed towards T.I's former bodyguard who was a police informant, and subsequently aided in T.I's arrest. Also Vick's cousin who had a hand in Vick's arrest and subsequent suspension from the Falcons.

Style

Banner's rapping style consists in putting multiple rhymes in a sentence,using a particular accent on some letters such as a "a". His productions' trademark are the vocals of an unidentified woman saying "David Banner nigga..." and sometimes a little kid's vocals adding the phrase "Beast generation". His productions sometimes have small guitar elements. For example "X-Ed" (from Certified) which created the Crunk sound with guitars. He also produced a couple of Rapcore tracks. (Crossroads from Certified)

Discography

Studio albums

1999: Grey Skies (Crooked Lettaz with Kamikaze)
2000: Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1 (10,000 Units)
2003: Mississippi: The Album (460,000 Units)
2003: MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water (295,000 Units)
2005: Certified (300,000 Units)
2008: The Greatest Story Ever Told

Singles

Year	Song	U.S. Hot 100	U.S. R&B	U.S. Rap	Album
2003	"Like a Pimp" (featuring Lil Flip)	48	15	10	Mississippi: The Album
2003	"Cadillac On 22's"	–	83	–	Mississippi: The Album
2004	"Crank It Up" (featuring Static)	–	87	–	MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water
2005	"Ain't Got Nothing" (featuring Magic & Lil Boosie)	84	83	91	Certified
	"Play"	7	5	3
	"Touching" (featuring Jazze Pha)	–	54	–
2007	"9mm/Speaker" (featuring Akon, Lil Wayne, & Snoop Dogg)	–	66	–	The Greatest Story Ever Told
2007	"Get Like Me" (featuring Chris Brown, Yung Joc & Jim Jones)^[10]	TBR	TBR	TBR	The Greatest Story Ever Told