David Banner Reminds Consumers of Their Buying Power

At the end of last year I wrote an article for BlackEnterprise.com detailing several “resolutions” that the Black community should enact in 2012. One of the main themes of that article was the need for the Black community to pool our collective resources and direct our immense spending power toward Black entities (businesses, organizations and movements). As we close the first quarter of 2012, and, in an effort to practice what I preach, I am officially unveiling the “2M1 Movement.”

The 2M1 Movement represents a grassroots attempt to assert our collective independence by taking control of our movies, our music and our creative content. To achieve this goal I am asking two million people to donate $1 (or more) to the movement at DavidBanner.com. In addition to your support of the movement, your dollar donation entitles you to a download of my upcoming album, Sex, Drugs & Video Games, on May 22, 2012. Far from the average mixtape, this is a self-funded, high quality album with features from Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Chris Brown, 2 Chainz, Raheem DeVaughn and a host of others. Additionally, your $1 (or more) donation also entitles you to downloads of the official videos for each of the songs on the album. In offering all of this content, the 2M1 Movement also represents a return to the consumer receiving an abundance of quality products for a more than affordable price. And if all of that weren’t enough, $1 million of your donations will be used to finance the shooting of a movie that I’m writing, directing and producing that will be released on May 22, 2013.

Personally speaking, this movement also represents a return to my musical roots. As many of you may already know, my beginnings in the music business were humble indeed. I first began by buying 100 blank CDs, burning my tracks on them and selling them on the street for $10 a piece. From those profits I reinvested my money, purchased another 1,000 blank CDs and sold them for $10 a piece. From that $10,000 I used $5,000 to buy a van (my famous maroon van!) and with the remaining $5,000 I bought another 5,000 blank CDs and sold them for $10 each.

In addition to my hustles on the street and in clubs, I also established my own distribution company to small mom and pop stores. After setting up my own Internet site, my mother and I actually hand mailed or delivered every CD that was purchased. By using this approach I was able to build my business and my career from the corner and not from a demo. Just like the beginning of my career, the 2M1 Movement represents a return to a direct connection between the artist and the consumer.

The beginning of my career also highlights another important point. First and foremost, it shows the importance of owning our own businesses. This point cannot be stressed enough. In the beginning, I had total control over my music, my lyrics, my image and every other aspect of my career. But when signing a deal with a label, an artist gives up an incredible amount of control. This is one of the biggest pitfalls of trying to get signed to “a deal” but it’s understandable. If you ask to stay in someone else’s house you have to not only take whatever room they give you but you also have to abide by the rules THEY set. Even if an artist decides to sign a deal he or she still must have a thorough understanding of what they want out of the situation. Far too often artists become

consumed with monetary gains and never consider the opportunities that are afforded to them as a result of their deal.  For example, a typical record deal can provide an artist with enough money to start a clothing line that is fully controlled by the artist. In the furtherance of this new business, the time spent promoting the artist’s CD on television can also be directly aligned with promoting the clothing line. In this scenario, the artist comes out with more than just “a record deal” and the cross promotion of the artist’s CD and clothing line is essentially done on someone else’s dime.

In many regards (and as my career shows), the tendency for us to give away our power to larger conglomerates is similar to the economic and social impacts of integration on our community. Previous to integration, the Black community was a self-sufficient, thriving entity–it had to be. When forced to “do for self” we had our own teachers, principals, doctors, attorneys, shop owners and dentists. These occupations and businesses thrived because we were forced to patronize them due to the restraints of segregation. But, with integration, the doctor in the Black community became the medical assistant in the White community, the lawyer in the Black community became the law clerk in the White community and the principal in the Black community became the janitor in the White community. The same happens when we give up our independence and look to get signed to a label.  Over time, while certain individuals are indeed able to reach great heights, as a whole our communities are crushed and we become forced to conform.

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In many ways American society (much like integration) makes the most important people in the equation (the artists and the consumer) feel like they’re nothing.

When I was first signed to a major label I already had more radio spins than 80% of the artists on the label! After being signed, however, I saw less money (per CD), had less control of my creativity and, by virtue of being one of many artists on the label, saw a drastic reduction in the time, energy and effort dedicated to my promotion. So, just as the lessons of integration have taught us the value of owning our own businesses and institutions, the lessons of the industry teach us that we should be responsible for our own music, movies and networks and not look to those outside of our culture to fuel, push and direct our culture. Just ask yourself; how can those outside of our culture properly depict or support something they didn’t come from. Now is the time to stop begging and to start spending some of the billions that we spend annually on ourselves.

So what are the implications and long-range goals of the 2M1 Movement? First, the 2M1 Movement represents a shift in the way both the artist and consumer approach each other. For some time now artists have saturated the market with free mixtapes and low quality projects. As a result of this devaluation of the music the consumer has responded by buying less. The 2M1 Movement changes this dynamic. It is the artists’ responsibility to provide quality content and products that give consumers a reason to support them. At the same time, it is the consumer’s responsibility to support an artist who is trying to raise the bar and offer products of value.

The effectiveness of the 2M1 Movement is in its ability to provide a high quality product at a cheap price. I am able to do this by going straight to the fans. Far too often we spend money on designers and companies that think nothing of reimbursing our community for our support. Will YOU

continue to spend dollar after dollar on companies who have no consideration at all for our community’s well being while refusing to support artists from among our community trying to make a difference?

On a much broader level the 2M1 Movement also represents the foundation for more than just music and entertainment. By participating in the movement the two million supporters become more than mere fans or consumers, they become a base. Having a base of two million people can effect real change on not only an economic level, but also on political, educational and social levels as well. Two million people moving as one is enough to move any mountain and to assert our will!

Lastly, the 2M1 Movement is not just for supporters of David Banner. This movement represents something much bigger; it represents the ability to be financially and creatively free. This movement allows people no matter what race to move a collective creative movement.  Transforming a culture of I to WE. As a movement, 2M1 is inherently broad based. The inspiration for my idea came from a comedian, Louis C.K. It was he who organized a similar campaign with his fans and supporters that turned out to be a resounding success. To me, this shows that all consumers are ready for a change and with the 2M1 Movement at DavidBanner.com both I as an artist and you as a consumer can now do our part to transform our reality and our community $1 at a time.

God bless.

Watch below as David Banner continues his campaign to put power back in the hand of the people.

Video shot and edited by Brain Food Film.