Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), better known by his stage name David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in

Brookhaven, Mississippi Brookhaven is a small city in Lincoln County, Mississippi, United States, south of the state capital of Jackson. The population was 12,520 at the 2010 U.S. Census. It is the county seat of Lincoln County. It was named after the town of Brookha ...

, Banner's family moved to

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at t ...

, where he was raised. Banner graduated from Southern University with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

, then attended

University of Maryland Eastern Shore University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is a public historically black land-grant research university in Princess Anne, Maryland. It is part of the University System of Maryland. It is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High ...

to pursue a

master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

. He started his music career as a member of the rap duo,

Crooked Lettaz Crooked Lettaz was an American hip hop duo from Jackson, Mississippi, composed of Brad "Kamikaze" Franklin and Lavell David Banner Crump. In 1998, Crooked Lettaz signed to independent label Penalty Recordings. Later that same year, the duo's fi ...

, before going solo in 2000 with the release titled '' Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1''. In 2003, Banner signed to

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, where he released four albums: '' Mississippi: The Album'' (2003), '' MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water'' (2003), '' Certified'' (2005), and ''

The Greatest Story Ever Told ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' is a 1965 American epic film produced and directed by George Stevens. It is a retelling of the Biblical account about Jesus of Nazareth, from the Nativity through to the Ascension. Along with the ensemble cast ...

'' (2008). Banner is also a noted producer, having produced music for himself,

Trick Daddy Maurice Samuel Young (born September 27, 1974), better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from Miami's Liberty City. Early life Trick Daddy was born on September 27, 1974, at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. ...

, T.I.,

Lil Boosie Torence Ivy Hatch (born November 14, 1982), better known by his stage name Boosie BadAzz or simply Boosie (formerly Lil Boosie), is an American rapper. Hatch began rapping in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop collective Concentration Camp, ev ...

and

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

among others.

Early life

Lavell William Crump was born in Brookhaven and raised in

, the elder son of Zeno Crump Jr., Jackson district fire chief, and Carolyn Crump. He graduated from

Provine High School John W. Provine High School is a public school in Jackson, Mississippi, United States. It is part of the Jackson Public School District. Nicknamed "Ram City", the school serves students in grades 9–12 in the West Jackson area. Students from the ...

in Jackson in 1992 and then attended Southern University in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties ...

, his mother's alma mater. At Southern University, Crump served as president of the Student Government Association and received a

in business. He later attended the

to pursue a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in education but later left the program to pursue his music career full-time.

Music career

1995–2000: Beginnings and ''Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1''

Crump's stage name "David Banner" is taken from the lead character of the television series, ''

The Incredible Hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of '' The Incredible Hulk'' (May 1962). In his comic book a ...

''. With several of his friends, Banner sent some demo tapes to Jackson, Mississippi radio station,

WJMI WJMI (99.7 FM) is a radio station licensed to Jackson, Mississippi, United States, with a mainstream urban musical format. The station is owned by Alpha Media through licensee Alpha Media Licensee LLC. Along with five other sister stations, i ...

. Celebrity Manage
Glenn Sweety G Toby
discovered the group and signed them to

Neil Levine Neil Levine is an American music industry executive. He is best known as the founder of the hip-hop label Penalty Recordings, and is currently the CEO of its successor company, Penalty Entertainment. Levine helped to launch the careers of artist ...

at Penalty Records. In 1999, Banner and rapper Kamikaze as the duo, Crooked Lettaz, released ''Grey Skies'' ( Penalty Recordings). In 2000, Banner released his solo debut album, ''Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1''. Released on the independent label, Big Face Records, the album sold around 7,000 copies.

2003–2006: ''Mississippi: The Album,'' ''MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water'' and ''Certified''

After assessing various offers, Banner and manager, Scott Johnson, decided to sign with

subsidiary, SRC Records, which was founded by Steve Rifkind who had previous success as CEO of the heavyweight hip-hop label,

Loud Records Loud Records, LLC. is a record label founded by Steve Rifkind and Rich Isaacson in 1991. Loud is a hip hop label that released material by acts such as Wu-Tang Clan, Big Pun, Mobb Deep, Krayzie Bone, The Beatnuts, M.O.P., Tha Alkaholiks, Pete ...

. In 2003, Banner produced T.I.'s single, "

Rubber Band Man "Rubber Band Man" is a song by American rapper T.I., released December 30, 2003 as the third single from his second studio album ''Trap Muzik'' (2003). Production from David Banner was noted by music reviewers, particularly the ascending organ ...

", which reached No. 30 on the Hot 100, No. 15 on the R&B chart, and No. 11 on the Rap chart. In 2003, Banner released his first major label album, '' Mississippi: The Album''. ''Mississippi'' included the hit single, "

Like a Pimp "Like a Pimp" is a song by David Banner, released in 2003 from '' Mississippi: The Album''. The song features fellow rapper Lil Flip and its accompanying music video was directed by Bernard Gourley. A portion of the song's chorus ("Girls get down ...

", featuring

Lil Flip Wesley Eric Weston Jr. (born March 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper. He embarked on his musical career as a freestyle and battle rapper before earning a record deal with Suckafree Records in 1999. Lil' F ...

. "Like a Pimp" peaked at No. 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, No. 15 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart, and No. 10 on the

Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stati ...

chart. He released the follow-up album the same year titled '' MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water'' which yielded the hit, "Crank It Up", featuring

Static Major Stephen Ellis Garrett (November 11, 1974 – February 25, 2008), known professionally as Static Major (and previously as Static), was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Louisville, Kentucky. He was a member of the R&B tri ...

. In 2005, Banner released his third major label album, '' Certified''. The album's first single was "Ain't Got Nothing" which featured Magic &

, followed by the second single, "

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

", which reached No. 7 on the Hot 100 chart, No. 5 on the R&B chart, and No. 3 on the Rap chart. The third single, "Touching", featured Jazze Pha and reached No. 54 on the R&B chart. In 2006, Banner appeared on "Seein' Thangs", a song about Hurricane Katrina featured on DJ Shadow's album "The Outsider". A remix featuring Bay Area hyphy rappers Nump and Gold also was made. Outside projects for Banner have included writing the theme song to the video game, ''

Saints Row ''Saints Row'' is a series of action-adventure video games created by Volition and published by THQ and Deep Silver. The series follows the 3rd Street Saints, a fictional street gang originally operating out of the Saints Row district, hence ...

'', as well as contributing to the music for a commercial promoting the video game, '' Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds''. Banner played the part of Tehronne in '' Black Snake Moan'' (2006).

2007–present: ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' and ''The God Box''

Banner appeared on the

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as dult swim'' and often abbreviated as s'') is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programmed by its in-house ...

pilot ''That Crook'd 'Sipp'', which premiered on May 13, 2007. His single "

" was used as the background music in the pilot's first television promo. That same year, he played the character of Mo, in the film '' This Christmas''. On July 15, 2008, Banner released his fourth major label album, ''

''. The album's first single titled "9mm" featured

Akon Aliaune Damala Badara Akon Thiam (; born April 16, 1973), known mononymously as Akon, is a Senegalese-American singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to prominence in 2004 following the release of " Locked Up" (featuring Styles P ...

, and Snoop Dogg. Banner then produced his next two singles: " Get Like Me" featuring Chris Brown and

Yung Joc Jasiel Amon Robinson (born September 20, 1980), better known by his stage name Yung Joc, is an American rapper. He is best known for his 2006 hit single " It's Goin' Down". and as a feature on T-Pain's US number-one single "Buy U a Drank (Shawt ...

, "Get Like Me" reached No. 16 on the Hot 100, No. 7 on the R&B chart, and No. 2 on the Rap chart. and " Shawty Say", featuring Lil Wayne. In 2008, Banner was featured on the track, ''Superfriend'', from the 2008 album, '' The Sound'', by

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

R&B duo, Mary Mary. In 2010, he played Bosch in the film The Experiment and as Jay, a gang leader from the hood in '' Stomp the Yard: Homecoming''. He has also worked with international artists such as Seeda, a Japanese Rap Artist where he was featured in the song, Life Song in 2010 on Seeda's Breathe Album. Banner released his debut mixtape titled '' Sex, Drugs and Video Games'' on May 22, 2012, as a free download. It is also available on his website, davidbanner.com, where fans are encouraged to make a donation of at least $1 for the sixteen song mixtape. The first single off the mixtape is titled "Amazing" featuring Chris Brown. It was announced that

Universal Republic Records Republic Records is a New York City–based American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). It was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially an ...

was going defunct, all of the artists on the roster moved from the label including (David Banner) was being moved to Republic Records making the label itself revived. In 2013, David Banner appeared in the music video for the song '' Confessions'' by

Lecrae Lecrae Devaughn Moore (born October 9, 1979), mononymously known as Lecrae, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record and film producer, record executive, actor, and entrepreneur. He is the president, co-owner and co-founder of the i ...

. Banner played Earl Gaines, Cecil Gaines' father, in the 2013 film ''

The Butler ''The Butler'' (full title ''Lee Daniels' The Butler'') is a 2013 American historical drama film directed and co-produced by Lee Daniels and with a screenplay by Danny Strong. It is inspired by Wil Haygood's ''Washington Post'' article "A But ...

''. Banner plays Jay, a criminal who is interrogated, in the 2014 film ''

Ride Along A ride-along is an arrangement for a civilian to spend a shift in the passenger seat of an emergency vehicle, observing the work day of a police officer, firefighter, or paramedic. Ride-alongs are offered by many police departments around the wor ...

.'' David Banner was featured on a remix of Mexican American rapper

Kap G George Ramirez (born July 31, 1994), better known by his stage name Kap G, is an Mexican-American rapper. He is best known for his song " Girlfriend", which peaked at number 10 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart. Early life George Ramirez wa ...

's single "La Policia", which stirred hype throughout the media and the internet.

Humanitarian and political work

In November 2006, Banner was awarded a Visionary Award by the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in

in recognition of his humanitarian work in response to Hurricane Katrina. National Black Caucus Honors David Banner For His Hurricane Katrina Relief Efforts With Humanitarian Award
November 2006 On September 25, 2007, Banner testified before Congress at a hearing about racism and misogyny in hip hop music titled ''From

Imus Imus, officially the City of Imus ( fil, Lungsod ng Imus), is a 3rd class component city and ''de jure'' capital of the province of Cavite, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 496,794 people. It is the ''de jure ...

to Industry: The Business of Stereotypes and Degrading Images''.Abrams, Jim
"House Panel Debates Hip-Hop Lyrics"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', September 25, 2011. He defended his use of offensive language and argued: "Change the situation in my neighborhood and maybe I'll get better." In his opening statement, Banner stated: "I can admit there are some problems in hip hop but it is only a reflection of what's taking place in our society. Hip hop is sick because America is sick."

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1'' (2000) * '' Mississippi: The Album'' (2003) * '' MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water'' (2003) * '' Certified'' (2005) * ''

'' (2008) * '' #TheGodBox'' (2017) ;Collaborative albums * '' Death of a Pop Star'' (2010)

Filmography

Awards

BET Hip Hop Awards The BET Hip Hop Awards are an annual awards show, airing on BET, showcasing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. The awards ceremony began in 2006; it was held on November 12, 2006 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, and w ...

** 2008, Best Hip-Hop Video ("Get Like Me") with Chris Brown & Yung Joc ominated** 2008, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Get Like Me") with Chris Brown & Yung Joc ominated** 2008, Best Producer ominated* Ozone Awards ** 2008, Best Rap/R&B Collaboration ("Get Like Me"), featuring Chris Brown & Yung Joc ominated

References

External links

David Banner: "In Mississippi, poverty has become a way life."
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Banner, David 1974 births Living people 21st-century American male actors African-American activists African-American crunk musicians African-American male actors African-American male rappers African-American poets African-American record producers American hip hop record producers American male film actors American male television actors American political activists American social activists Male actors from Mississippi Rappers from Mississippi Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi Southern hip hop musicians Southern University alumni SRC Records artists University of Maryland Eastern Shore alumni Businesspeople from Jackson, Mississippi Actors from Jackson, Mississippi 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American poets 21st-century American male musicians Universal Motown Records artists 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American people