David Banner has matured immensely since he first lit up the music scene with his debut single, “Like a Pimp.” The once wild, young rapper has transformed into a wise gentleman, and this change is evident in his music. He’s gone from boasting about the pimp lifestyle and referring to women as “b-tches,” to writing thoughtful songs like his latest, “Marry Me,” which is dedicated to Black women who feel unappreciated in society.
Banner recently sat down with xoNecole.com editor Kiah McBride and discussed growing as a man and an artist, his controversial tweets, and the importance of becoming the ideal husband to a Black woman.
On no longer degrading women:
It is very important for me to say that I’ve done enough degrading of our women myself. So, in no way is this downgrading any other rappers or saying what any other black man should do, this is for me. I have some making up to do. I have forgotten myself. With “Play,” even though I really enjoyed it and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that [song] in its proper place, there is no balance.
On his tweets saying, “If you want a man that respects the way you think, then show more mind than a—,” [and Black women defending him]:
The thing is, when a woman tells me about how a woman looks at a Black man, I listen whether I agree or not. I’m telling you how a man thinks, and you’re going to tell me something? That’s like me commenting on pregnancy … I made that comment to heal and to help. If you don’t agree with it then keep it moving.
The thing is, if we don’t have real conversations with each other, we’re never going to heal. What’s funny about it is, I actually learned about that from a scientific standpoint. If a man sees flesh and a—, he can’t see anyway because his d—’s hard. And when his d— gets hard, the blood rushes from his feet and from his head. So we can’t walk and we can’t see. Even from a scientific standpoint, when we see a— and t—s we can’t see! If we don’t have real conversations with each other we’re never going to heal.
We want stuff to make us feel good. And what happened that was good — guess who came to my rescue? Black women! When I went and read those threads, one Black woman shut the whole Internet down. She said, “oh what, now we’re defending guyism?” And couldn’t nobody say sh—, and I was like ‘go girl!’
On getting more criticism now that he’s being more positive:
It is amazing — when I called you “b— and h—” and I called you “n— and b—,” my career went perfect. But when I told you that you’re gods and goddesses, I got more criticism than I’ve ever got in my life.
On being glad he isn’t married yet:
No, I’m not married. I just want to be the man that most Black women want to marry. I want to be a Black man that stands strong. I’m not perfect, but [I want to be the man] women want to marry and that kids want to be their father. I want to be that man. [When I die] I want people to say that that’s a strong African man, I am proud that he’s a part of my culture.
….People pray so much for an angel, but then we’re demons. I’m glad I didn’t get married before. [Before], I couldn’t have been the man that I’m going to be to whomever my wife will be, wherever she is.
On the importance of family and the family structure:
There’s no way that a man can raise a female child by himself and expect for her to be mentally functional. Just because a woman can raise a man that is successful in the United States doesn’t mean that you properly raised a man. This is my personal opinion…
On social media and calling for his followers to be “silent” at times:
Silence has saved my whole entire life. It is in my belief that evil is just a bunch of noise and distractions, and silence is Godly….
On the track “Marry Me” being for the Black woman:
This song is for [all] Black women, but it’s especially for the dark-skinned Black women. If you look at our culture, our women don’t feel protected. They don’t feel wanted. You look at most of who so-called people of success cater to — nine times out of 10 it may not be a Black woman at all. And if it is, it’s definitely not ones that look like our cousins or our great-grandmothers. And I said “man, if nobody in the world says that they love them and that they respect them and that they want them, it’ll be me.”
For “Marry Me” to even be looked at as the type of song that it is shows the problem — the fact that it’s so special. “Marry Me” shouldn’t be special. There should be a million songs like that. And the fact that it is so special and that women are crying all over the world because of this record, shows that it’s a problem, and shows that there is no balance. As bad as you criticize Black men, are you going to hold the ones up who are doing what you say we don’t do?
Read the full interview at xonecole.com.
