Boombox: How do you feel about performing in the UK? And what do you feel about UK hip-hop in general?
Banner: I feel like it’s a challenge and that’s one of the things I enjoy the most about performing in the UK. It’s like starting over again; you know what I'm saying? It gives you a challenge. I always look at performing as like slaying a dragon. You're looking out to a crowd, sometimes hundreds of thousands of people and in some cases they may not know a word that you speak and you may start a show off with nobody maybe even knowing a song that you've done and that means that you have to put everything that you've got and sometimes it looks hopeless and through the beats and through the combination of team work with people that’s around you, from management, to DJ, to the hype man, it all just comes in.
Boombox: Yeah. Your latest album "Certified" has been out in the states for a while, but only came out over here in February. You have some of hip-hop's finest doing guest spots on the album, but is there anyone you would like to record with who you haven't had the chance to with yet?
Banner: Damn, it’s really hard to say because I just finished doing a song with Snoop and I think that was one of the highlights of my career you know, to work with someone of his stature and his greatness and you know just to be able to study under his pimpology, it just really kicked my pimpin' to the next notch. Nah, but honestly to work with Snoop, somebody of that stature was just, it was really for me, you know, as far as hip-hop is concerned, he's a legend.
Boombox: Yeah, yeah, it’s difficult to know where to go from there isn’t it?
Banner: Yeah, you know, but for me man, I would love to..., honestly working with people like Sway and working with people like Kano, I think that’s the next level because they the next level of artist to really transcend in pop and break a culture open, similar to what Snoop did for the west coast.
Boombox: How does it feel to have your first platinum record?
Banner: It feels great man, I’m very thankful that God gave me the opportunity and hopefully I can continue to do what I do.
Boombox: Do you find it demanding being both a producer and a rapper?
Banner: No, it kicks.
Boombox: heheh, you are about to star in your first film ("Black Snake Moon") alongside Samuel L. Jackson. How did you get involved with that project and what was it like working with a legend like Jackson?
Banner: The way I got involved in the project is, I was in acting school, I heard about it, I went in and tried out for it, actually I don't feel like I did as well as I should have first time, got an opportunity to try again and I actually stopped everything I was doing in music and I just totally focused on that role. I didn’t do no beats, I didn’t do any performances, I cancelled all of my shows and I just specifically worked on the acting role and landed it. It was really nerve-wracking working with Samuel because number 1 it was my first role and then all of my speaking parts where with either Christina Ricci or Samuel L. Jackson so to actually for your first time have to act right to someone of that stature was nerve-wracking, but it was a blessing.
Boombox: Of course, not many rappers have made the transition from rapper to actor. Did you find it difficult or did it come naturally to you?
Banner: Well, the thing is, most rappers are not as good as I am. I mean, I don’t know about them, I can’t speak for other rappers; all I know is for whatever you do you have to work hard and you have to train yourself. I don’t by any means think that I am the best anything, I just think that I work damn hard to do whatever I can whether its performing, whether its acting, whether I'm doing beats, i'ma put everything, if you pay for it, I want you know that when it comes to the duda dudda you are gonna get your moneys worth, whether its in the theatre or whether its in the movies or whether its on the CD, I want the impression when they hear David Banner's name I want equate it with quality and money well spent.
Boombox: I hear you are giving a lot back to those in need through your Heal the Hood Foundation, but a lot of people haven't even heard of it. Can you tell us a little about the organisation and what it does?
Banner: Heal the Hood is an organisation I formed to help less fortunate people who are usually neglected by larger organisations such as The Red Cross. I just want Heal the Hood to be a foundation to look after people from impoverished areas who nine times out of ten always get licked over, so for me that’s what Heal the Hood represents and means to me. Right now we are in the process of refurbishing it because it just became too much and as an artist you have to admit your limitations, so I needed to bring in some professional help because we were doing it all ourselves, you know and we had to learn about non-profit organisations and the guidelines and rules.
Boombox: Yeah, I imagine it’s been fairly difficult with obviously the impact that [Hurricane] Katrina had as well and I imagine that’s left you fairly busy.
Banner: Yeah, fairly busy, fairly drained, but it felt good to be able to do it and it felt good that people believed in me that much.
Boombox: So, last year you joined Snoop, Xzibit and Lil' Jon to make cameos in a Korn video. How did that venture come about?
Banner: We all part of the firm as far as Korn, Snoop and myself so it’s like a natural collaboration.
Boombox: So you get on well with artists from the west like Snoop and Xzibit then?
Banner: Oh yeah, they really are family, you know. Snoop is from Mississippi. His family from Mississippi, so we like cousins.
Boombox: Have you started planning your next album and what are your plans for the future?
Banner: My plans for the future man is to just manage my money well and become an entrepreneur, I want to do less moving and more thinking. I have worked my ass off for the last 15 years and I want to learn from people who have been really successful and able to transcend those poverty lines, but not so much physically having to rub and using their brains as a mechanism to bring in money and people who are most powerful and people who spend more time thinking and administering thoughts to other people to actually do the leg work and making more money and that’s what I want to get into.
Boombox: How do you feel about performing in the UK? And what do you feel about UK hip-hop in general?