07/20/08 - David Banner Greatest Story Ever Told (Allhiphop)

Yack Towns FInest · 07-20-2008, 08:53 PM

It’s refreshing to hear when a rapper has more substantial lyrics in a rhyme than the typical subject matter. The man responsible for helping put Mississippi on the map has gotten really deep on us as of late.

David Banner’s fourth album, The Greatest Story Ever Told (SRC), attempts to reroute your attention to what’s going on in current events and the Hip-Hop's involvement. He doesn’t abandon the persona that his fans have grown used to; however this album doesn’t prove to be very consistent.

“So Long” opens with Banner testifying about why our generation is filled with cowards and touches on topics from Bush to Sean Bell. He then transitions to “Suicide Doors” featuring UGK and Kandi Girl formerly of Xscape. Young Dro is sampled on the chopped up hook while Pimp C and Bun B brands the track with their distinctive verses. “9mm/Speaker,” which contradicts the opener , follows with backing by Akon; Lil Wayne stands out most on the pulsating bass driven track and amongst Snoop Dogg.

Club ready tracks like “Get Like Me” featuring Chris Brown with Yung Joc and “Shawty Say” featuring Lil Wayne, which samples a line from “Lollipop,” prove to be the highlighted radio friendly tracks. However the buck stops with “A Girl” which is all too reminiscent of the extremely played out whisper-on-the-track scheme from a few years past.

Things then slow down to a more inspirational tip with “Hold On” featuring Marcus and “Cadillac on 22’s (Part 2)” which is the follow-up to the original. While the latter sends a good message, Banner could have benefited more by keeping the singing to the pros like on “I Get By” featuring Carl Thomas. One thing noticeable on this album is that it has several guest appearances throughout which can be very distracting and takes away from an already established artist.

More stand out listings on the album include “Freedom”, an interlude where Banner speaks on how others view his people and tells them some of the things that could be done so it wouldn’t continue to be encouraged. Message inconsistency comes into play once again with “K.O.”. The bass and drum transmitting beat with the occasional synthesizers will nonetheless be a favorite to many.

All in all Banner makes an attempt to put things on a more positive inspiring note, but couldn’t seem to resist keeping some of the subject matter consistent with previous albums like his best to date, Mississippi: The Album. Its good to see that he’s been speaking up for what he believes to be the rights and wrongs in today’s culture, however he should’ve focused a little more on translating that into a more consistant offering.

YGeeza · 07-21-2008, 04:48 PM

wasn't feelin the album

pDASH · 07-21-2008, 09:08 PM

it was cool that he was trying to do something different, and have a cd with concepts and topics, but its just not that great
a few decent tracks though

jasmine2008 · 07-22-2008, 12:57 AM

props on this review...i like a couple of the songs

lil d3co 2k7 · 08-13-2008, 02:33 PM

i heard this CD off the hook

07-20-2008, 08:53 PM	#1
Yack Towns FInest Join Date: May 2006 Location: North Carolina/ New York Posts: 993 Repped: 156 Repped 161 Times in 51 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	07/20/08 - David Banner Greatest Story Ever Told (Allhiphop) 07/20/08 - David Banner Greatest Story Ever Told (Allhiphop) It’s refreshing to hear when a rapper has more substantial lyrics in a rhyme than the typical subject matter. The man responsible for helping put Mississippi on the map has gotten really deep on us as of late. David Banner’s fourth album, The Greatest Story Ever Told (SRC), attempts to reroute your attention to what’s going on in current events and the Hip-Hop's involvement. He doesn’t abandon the persona that his fans have grown used to; however this album doesn’t prove to be very consistent. “So Long” opens with Banner testifying about why our generation is filled with cowards and touches on topics from Bush to Sean Bell. He then transitions to “Suicide Doors” featuring UGK and Kandi Girl formerly of Xscape. Young Dro is sampled on the chopped up hook while Pimp C and Bun B brands the track with their distinctive verses. “9mm/Speaker,” which contradicts the opener , follows with backing by Akon; Lil Wayne stands out most on the pulsating bass driven track and amongst Snoop Dogg. Club ready tracks like “Get Like Me” featuring Chris Brown with Yung Joc and “Shawty Say” featuring Lil Wayne, which samples a line from “Lollipop,” prove to be the highlighted radio friendly tracks. However the buck stops with “A Girl” which is all too reminiscent of the extremely played out whisper-on-the-track scheme from a few years past. Things then slow down to a more inspirational tip with “Hold On” featuring Marcus and “Cadillac on 22’s (Part 2)” which is the follow-up to the original. While the latter sends a good message, Banner could have benefited more by keeping the singing to the pros like on “I Get By” featuring Carl Thomas. One thing noticeable on this album is that it has several guest appearances throughout which can be very distracting and takes away from an already established artist. More stand out listings on the album include “Freedom”, an interlude where Banner speaks on how others view his people and tells them some of the things that could be done so it wouldn’t continue to be encouraged. Message inconsistency comes into play once again with “K.O.”. The bass and drum transmitting beat with the occasional synthesizers will nonetheless be a favorite to many. All in all Banner makes an attempt to put things on a more positive inspiring note, but couldn’t seem to resist keeping some of the subject matter consistent with previous albums like his best to date, Mississippi: The Album. Its good to see that he’s been speaking up for what he believes to be the rights and wrongs in today’s culture, however he should’ve focused a little more on translating that into a more consistant offering.

07-21-2008, 09:08 PM	#3
pDASH Answers 2 Questions Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: New York, NY Posts: 2,285 Repped: 288 Repped 320 Times in 46 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 2 Times in 2 Posts	it was cool that he was trying to do something different, and have a cd with concepts and topics, but its just not that great a few decent tracks though __________________ BIG EX! www.thisisBIGEX.com

07-22-2008, 12:57 AM	#4
jasmine2008 Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Port City, NC Posts: 287 Repped: 9 Repped 39 Times in 15 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 2 Times in 2 Posts	props on this review...i like a couple of the songs __________________

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07-21-2008, 04:48 PM	#2
YGeeza Veteran Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: L.A. Posts: 2,105 Repped: 1,398 Repped 518 Times in 117 Posts Neg Reps: 40 Neg Repped at 15 Times in 11 Posts	wasn't feelin the album

08-13-2008, 02:33 PM	#5
lil d3co 2k7 Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Houston Posts: 24 Repped: 0 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	i heard this CD off the hook