SXSW 08 Music Live Shots

David Banner

Hulk smash! With expectations running high for a new look from the Mississippi Monster, Banner skipped onto stage (for serious) to more of the same, a steady dose of bleacher-rattling bass thumps, self-indulging hooks, and big-ups to the Southern rap movement. At least he put the effort into theatrics. Banner lost his shirt midway through the first song, rationalizing to the ladies why he works out so much: "It's not cause I wanna look good; I was 21 points away from being a diabetic." It wasn't long before Banner stripped down to nothing but a pair of black basketball shorts before launching the anti-snitching anthem "BAN" ("It goes, 'bitch, ass, and white folks, you can't sing this song'"). Missing from the show were plugs for a new album, Banner having pushed back The Greatest Story Ever Told in search of a new sound. There was nothing revolutionary about "9mm/Speaker" or the Young Joc-featured "Get Like Me," but there hardly needs to be. Truth is, David Banner can rap in anything from a spacesuit to a birthday suit and still be up to his old tricks.