Earlier this year, when we dropped our countdown of The 25 Most Anticipated Albums of 2011, Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV topped the list. We’re almost halfway into 2011 and it seems like Tha Carter IV is still a while away. Although Young Tunechi recently dropped the Rick Ross-featuring banger “John (If I Die Today),” we still don’t know much about what his upcoming album will offer (besides what T-Minus already told us).
Thankfully, David Banner—who recently swung by the Complex offices—was willing to reveal a few details about how he got in the studio with the Young Money honcho to work on C4, his relationship with Wayne, and an upcoming song he did with Busta Rhymes that he feels will be one of the dopest hip-hop songs in a long time.
As told to Toshitaka Kondo (@ToshitakaKondo)
On Working On Tha Carter IV...
“I worked on Tha Carter IV. Me and Wayne were in the studio together twice. Once in Miami and once in L.A. Where I am with artists now, it’s more about the relationship. Before we even do a record I want to talk to you. ‘Rubberband Man’ will always be a part of T.I.’s family and T.I.’s life. With artists being so disposable, I want to sit down like, ‘Man, how you doing?’ Wayne just got out of jail. Let me talk to you and see how you doing as a man.
On his relationship with Wayne...
“Wayne works a lot so you never know what he’s going to pick at the end. I’ve had to buy tracks back because they will call me the week before it’s time to cut like, ‘Banner are these tracks open?’ [I’m calling other people like,] ‘Yeah man. You know that track I sold you? I’ll give you double what you paid for it.’ [Laughs.] So now, I do a separate batch for Wayne that I don’t even play for anybody else. There’s not too many records that are going to do what Wayne does. So having one or two on something of that stature, that’s worth holding a couple beats to the side.
On working with Busta Rhymes...
”I’ve been been working with Busta. The song I’ve got for Busta is—if we can get the sample cleared—going to be one of the dopest hip-hop songs in a very long time. I don’t want to say what the sample is because I don’t even want nobody to go in that direction. Nobody in hip-hop is doing this. [The sample is] somebody that’s dead, but they’re still famous and popping in young culture. The way that I did it though, I didn’t put it in the genre of music that they’re from. It’s on a hood beat and Wayne is on it.
