David Banner Credits T.I. For Turning Him Into A ‘Million-Dollar Producer’

David Banner credits T.I. for helping him become a "million-dollar producer."

David Banner struggled to gain recognition as a music producer until rapper T.I. stepped in and made sure the “Rubberband Man” creator received the credit he deserved, ultimately helping him become a “million-dollar producer.”

Banner recently appeared on Club Shay Shay, where he opened up about his rise as a music producer and rapper. Inspired by Jay-Z’s way of shouting out his producers on his hit songs, Banner sought to become the first hip-hop producer to include his name at the beginning of a song he produced.

Unfortunately, radio DJs often cut out Banner’s producer tag when playing the song, until T.I. stepped in and demanded that Banner’s name stay at the beginning of his 2003 hit “Rubberband Man.”

“What people don’t know is that I produced ‘Thug Holiday’ for Trick Daddy — but nobody knew who David Banner was at the time. So I wasn’t able to take advantage. I wasn’t even in the video. But T.I. is the person who allowed me to be a million-dollar producer,” Banner explained.

“‘Rubber Band Man’ changed the texture. He’s also, and people won’t admit this, the reason why producers can put their tags on their beat on the radio, cause my tag was on my beats way before ‘Rubber Band Man,’ but the radio stations would shave it off,” Banner said. “T.I. called [the stations] and said, ‘Don’t touch my music, that boy worked hard.’”

The reveal is also a nod to Jay-Z, who Banner says helped music producers increase the price tag on their work after receiving a shoutout from the hip-hop mogul.

“I noticed Jay-Z would say ‘Kanye, you a fool fool fool. Just Blaze, you did it again,’ and every time he would say their name, they could charge $10,000 extra, right,” Banner said.

While Jay-Z was known for spotlighting producers on his tracks, Banner noticed that recognition was often lacking in the South. Many producers behind iconic hits went uncredited because the artists using their beats didn’t give them shoutouts.

“Southern rappers hid their producers. It hurts me to this day,” Banner said. “KLC from Beats By The Pound, as big as ‘No Limit’ was, don’t nobody know who they are. They’re some of my mentors… I really think Beats By The Pound is as big as Timbaland and Pharrell, because they changed music in the same way that those people do, but we don’t know who they are.”

Rather than feeling discouraged, the realization motivated Banner to take action, prompting him to add his signature “DAVID BANNER” tag at the beginning of his tracks.

“And since I saw that, I said, ‘I’m not going to let them look over me. I’mma put my own name before my beat,” Banner said. “It got so hot at one time, and people don’t even give me credit for that… I think I was one of the first people to put my name before a beat, but nobody made it hot in contemporary America like I did.”