With the release of The Greatest Story Ever Told, David Banner has done nothing to rein in the unwieldy aspects of his personality. Angry Banner, Party Banner, Lecherous Banner, Political Banner, Philanthropic Banner: The man has more faces than a deck of cards.
As Banner explains it, that's the point. No one can be encapsulated in a single moment. "You go through ups and downs," he says. "You go through triumphs. You go through failures. And it comes to an end-- whether it's a bad end, whether it's a tragic end, or whether it's a triumphant end."
When we interviewed the Mississippi MC yesterday, he was feeling fairly triumphant. In addition to chatting about his storytelling philosophy, Banner touched on how he summons the energy he displays when performing, his response to critics and naysayers, Barry Bonds' appearance in the "Get Like Me" video, and exactly how he is like a mongoose.
David Banner will appear on the Pete Wentz-hosted MTV show "FNMTV" tonight at 8 p.m. ET to premiere the video for "Shawty Say [ft. Lil Wayne]".
Pitchfork: You and Busta Rhymes are the two dudes I can think of who are always amped up to a 10 when you're performing. Where you get all that energy?
David Banner: Well, it's energy and passion for what I do. When I initially started performing in Mississippi, my show had to be 10 times better than anybody I was opening up for. Actually, my shows have gone down like 500% from when I was an independent artist, because, you know, we don't want to scare people away. I used to spit fire, just all kinds of stuff.
The thing is, it's a show. You come to perform. You come to give people their money's worth. American entertainment has become more about-- from television to music to performances-- what you wear or who you're dating. Untalented people are asking to be entertainers. So I just wanted to always give people 100%.
Pitchfork: Do you have any rituals that you use to muster it all up? If you're not feeling it that particular day but you know you have to put on a show, what do you do to put yourself in the frame of mind to perform?
DB: I'm very quiet. It's like the total opposite. I'm very quiet, very playful, you know, push-ups. You would be surprised. When you see me before a show, you would think that I'm about to go out and play Mozart or something.
