David Banner recalls advising Chris Brown to "be a kid" and "get that Disney money" after he got his 1st tattoo
Rapper and record producer David Banner appeared on the Club Shay Shay podcast on Wednesday, June 18. On the show, he spoke about Chris Brown and recalled the first time the latter got his tattoo. According to Banner, he advised the rapper to "be a kid" as long as he could:
"I'll never forget when Chris got his first tattoo, bro... Cause I was coming and I remember telling him, bro, you a kid, be a kid as long as you can. And I'm serious. I told him this, bro. Get that Disney money. Cause once you grown, you can't ever come back."
David Banner further added that despite his advice, Chris Brown wanted "to be a man" and he couldn't blame the 36-year-old rapper for that. Banner then went on to call Brown one of the most talented artists that he had ever come across in his life. Talking about Brown's apparent choice of wanting to "be a man", Banner said:
"The reason why he's not on a Prince, Michael Jackson level is because he chose his manhood over his music."
Banner further explained that Brown couldn't be blamed for wanting to be "respected as a man". David Banner and Chris Brown had previously worked together on songs like Get Like Me and Ladies Love Me.
David Banner opened up about his battle with mental health issues and impact of hip-hop on his life
David Banner touched on multiple topics while getting candid with Shannon Sharpe. This included some very sensitive ones, like Banner's battle with mental health issues like depression. He stated that he was battling depression as well as heartbreak in the music industry. He said:
"I loved music, and music broke my heart."
Banner continued by talking about how hip-hop had a deep impact on his life. According to the record producer, he stopped eating pork and began following a more spiritual path after drawing inspiration from The Autobiography of Malcolm X and a hip-hop group called Brand Nubian.
He stated that, along with therapy, music also assisted in dealing with childhood trauma and grief.
In the interview, he praised the 2025 movie Sinners and claimed that Ryan Coogler had done a good job connecting African-Americans with their spirituality.
For the unversed, David Banner is a record producer, rapper, and actor born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, in April 1974. Banner's music career reportedly began with him being a part of the hip-hop group Crooked Lettaz. Then, in 2000, Banner decided to go solo.
Banner's debut album, Them Firewater Boyz, Vol. 1 was released in August 2000. Since then, he has dropped more albums like Mississippi: The Album, MTA2: Baptized in Dirty Water, Certified, and Death of a Pop Star, to name a few. David Banner also produced a lot of songs for other artists.
The list included Jibbs' Yeah Boii, Ice Cube's Fighting For My Paradise, Snoop Dogg's It's D Only Thing, Wake Up Call by Maroon 5, and a lot more.
