One of these days I’m going to write an essay on how my character arc in this thing called life weaves seamlessly at times with the release schedule and subject matter of David Banner’s discography. He’s been on of my favorite emcees and producers for the last 20 years, in my CD changer since CD changers.
Being the self-proclaimed Hip-Hop Geographer, of course I have a few location-based memories of him. One of the oldest involves Mississippi…the Album Chopped & Screwed. My cousins and I dated a group of friends from Mount Clemens, Michigan in the summer of 2004. We’d turn on the album when we left our neighborhood in Ecorse and by the time we were ready to exit the freeway “Choose Me”, his song about wooing the women-ladies featuring Skyy, would come on. I think even a few of us were dating someone who shared a name on the list sung in Skyy’s verse. Mississippi…Chopped & Screwed is still one of my favorite albums of all time, and one I rarely want to hear at regular speed because of that summer. I would have similar adventures through college and my 20s with Banner supplying the soundtrack.
I felt it only appropriate to map his most recent album (as of writing this), The God Box, which should be on everyone’s Black Power Playlist. It’s the perfect blend of critiquing systemic racism and unjust institutions, discourse on the state of Black America, and the raw, aggressive rhymes he and others from the Hip-Hop South are known for. I discovered album at a time older and wiser than before, where I too was reflecting on the ways of how we live and thinkin of what I can do to contribute positively to my people. As always, David Banner gave me some bangers to nod my head to while I move about the world.
For each track I mapped a layer inspired by the lines or messaging within the songs. The only exception is “Wizdom Selah,” which if you’ve listened to the track you’d probably agree with me that this map IS my Wizdom Selah. This map took a year to build and I’m happy to share it with you, and hopefully David Banner too: if you see this I have a printed copy on deck for you.
TRACK LISTING:
“Magnolia” (How she was used in the lynching of Blacks / Branch cracked broke her arm so his neck wouldn’t snap)
Magnolia grandiflora, most commonly known as the southern magnolia, is a large evergreen tree ubiquitous with the South. It grows naturally throughout much of the southern United States and is the state tree of Banner’s home of Mississippi. Due to its size and sturdiness it also has a history of being used in lynchings. In an interview with Fuse, Banner says the inspiration for Magnolia came from an idea for a book: If Trees Could Talk would have given trees the ability to say what they’ve witnessed over centuries, to include the deaths of Black men, women, and children under their branches. I really hope he writes it.
Symbolized in green are counties where the southern magnolia grows naturally. The US Forestry Service’s USDA Agriculture Handbook has maps of the habitats of various American trees and plants. I interpolated the map of the southern magnolia’s range into a by-county depiction.
“My UZI” (I been on one since they killed Mike…They say this shit is about black and white / All this shit is pretty Freddie Gray)
“My UZI” is not just a song about firearms, it’s a call to action for Black communities to defend and protect themselves. David Banner and Big K.R.I.T. speak on police brutality in their bars, most notably the deaths of Michael Brown and Freddie Gray. Brown and Gray were two young Black men killed by law enforcement officers in 2014 and 2015 respectively. Both incidents became national news headlines due to the large-scale protests in response to the killings.
The Uzis on the map show the cities of Ferguson, Missouri and Baltimore, Maryland, the cities where Michael Brown and Freddie Gray were from.
“Who Want It” (Kneel to the Almighty / It’s my second time asking what happened to Chris Lighty or Prince)
Raw rhymes. Pure emceeing. David Banner and Black Thought pull no punches on “Who Want It”. Banner references the deaths of Chris Lighty and Prince, two well-known names in the music industry, in his verse. Chris Lighty was a record executive and co-founder of the Violator record label. And Prince, well who doesn’t know Prince.
Both Lighty and Prince were found dead; Chris by a self-inflicted gunshot wound and Prince by accidental overdose. Additionally, both deaths are questioned to this day as fan and family members share disbelief of the coroners’ dispositions. The purple question marks show where they passed away: Lighty in New York City and Prince at his Paisley Park estate in Chanhassen, Minnesota.
“Elvis” (Lord don’t take my heart, Lord don’t take my soul / Lord don’t let them take hip-hop like they took rock & roll)
Banner raps about the whitewashing of Black music in “Elvis”. He discusses contemporary white artists who find success in creating Black music-Eminem, Justin Timberlake, Robin Thicke, and Adele to name a few-and white ownership of Black media distributors like Black Entertainment Television. Although BET is run by African American executives it is still a subsidiary of a larger corporation, most recently Paramount Global.
Elvis Presley is a widely-known archetype of white artists capitalizing from popular Black music. Elvis’ head shows the location of his estate in Graceland, Tennessee.
“Amy” (F*** Gucci, f*** Louie, till they come to my hood / F*** Tom Ford, f*** Versace, yeah I said it I’m good)
“Amy”, short for Ay My N****, explores the dichotomy of our most beloved and most hated racial epithet as Black Americans and how our feelings about the word change depending on who’s using it.
Banner’s bars above reference a relationship luxury brands have with hip-hop artists and Black consumers that may not be seen as mutually beneficial. It’s no secret luxury brands have profited from the free advertising of hip-hop artists since Dapper Dan was making Gucci coats for Eric B & Rakim (maybe even more). Only within the last decade or so these brands started incorporating emcees (and urban/R&B artists as well) in their ad campaigns and we now see these artists at the forefront of fashion weeks worldwide.
What may not be that well-known is how often Black America sets trends in luxury goods outside of the music. According to a Nielsen consumer report published in 2019, Black America has $1.3 trillion in annual spending power. If we were our own country we would have the 15th largest GDP, more than Mexico, less than Spain. And Black consumers are more likely to spend on luxury items: the report says Black people were 31% more likely to spend $500 or more on handbags or purses within the past year.
The irony is although we patronize luxury stores at higher rates and spend more money very few, if any, have locations in predominantly Black neighborhoods. The money stacks symbolize all of the Gucci stores in the United States. Don’t be fooled by the scale of the map: although many are near core cities, these stores are almost always located in suburbs and exurbs well beyond the city boundaries.
“August” (Chef Curry, no pot, Klay Thompson in the third against Sac with the Glock / Thirty-seven, block, block, yeah I’m conscious but the pistol that I got still pop / I need every Igoudala…)
Short, but powerful, “August” is raw rhymes over a beat I’d classify as boom-bap-meets-808-funk. The first half of Banner’s verse is an extended metaphor incorporating the Golden State Warriors roster. He calls out to the January 23, 2015 game against the Sacramento Kings where Klay Thompson set the NBA record for most points in one quarter (37). The Klay Thompson bar also serves as a double entendre as the Glock 37 is a popular firearm. The Warriors logo shows the location of their home arena, Chase Center in San Francisco, California.
“Cleopatra Jones” (An opulent chick (what’s opulent?) rich / She Sheba, she look like a diva / She move like a Davis / Don’t play us, she spray us, she stay on some Angela shit)
“Cleopatra Jones” is an ode to the Black woman in name and verse. The track title was likely inspired by the 1973 Blaxploitation film Cleopatra Jones starring Tamara Dobson. Dobson plays a US Special Agent who takes on international drug cartels.
I chose to map something from the movie. The filmmakers used the Granada Buildings in Los Angeles for exterior shots of Cleopatra Jones’ home. The buildings-technically one complete structure-currently hosts 56,000+ square feet of office and studio suites. The buildings are symbolized by a Black woman with an afro, one of Cleopatra’s signature looks in the film.
“Marry Me” (I will wrap my soul around this ring girl / If I could that’s what you mean to me / Give me your hand and your heart girl / I swear it’s safe for eternity)
Marry Me is a great love song Mrs. Smithsonian and I would have probably worked into our wedding ceremony if we had one. We got married in 2020, you can dig the hint. Nonetheless, the perfect destination to have a wedding seemed fitting to add to the map. The engagement rings symbolize Travel Noire’s 2019 list of the Top 10 Most Beautiful Destinations for a Fall Wedding:
– Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards, Virginia
– Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania
– New York, New York
– New Orleans, Louisiana
– Denver, Colorado
– Austin, Texas
– Asheville, North Carolina
– Napa Valley, California
– Spartanburg, South Carolina
– Cancun, Mexico (not shown)
“Judy Blare” (We’re being taken over by domestic terrorists. Those domestic terrorists will not allow you to collect rain water. Water is the essence of life. It’s the one thing we cannot survive without. And when they privatize it, we’re all fucked.)
These aren’t bars from the song; instead, they’re from the dialogue that plays after the song ends. Symbolized in blue are the 13 states that restrict or otherwise regulate rainwater harvesting according to the World Population Review: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah.
“Traffic on Mars” (There’s murder for minerals in Ghana / So I’mma blow this marijuana / In honor of all the daughters and mamas that live under Boko Hiram)
“Traffic on Mars” is a play on the feeling from smoking cannabis; people often say they’re so high they’re in outer space or on another planet. I hear Banner flipping this by showing although he may be high, he’s not clouded to the problems of Black people across the world. The bar above calls out the evils of Boko Haram, a Nigerian terrorist organization notoriously known for their attacks on women and children, particularly young girls. Wikipedia has an article listing Boko Haram’s attacks going back to 2009. The explosions on the map of North-Central Africa symbolize Boko Haram attacks deliberately targeting women and children, to include those where female suicide bombers were used to carry out attacks.
“Black Fist” (These crackers got drones, they are flying their saucers / Keep your white Jesus, don’t pray to your crosses / They are burning our churches, K.R.I.T. pass me the UZI / I know how to work it, I know how to squirt it)
“Black Fist” is a call to arms against systemic violence on the Black community and should be a song on everyone’s Black Power Playlists. Both Banner and Tito Lopez give amazing verses that identify root causes of racism as it exists today. Banner references church burnings, a tactic used against Black communities for decades, in his bars. The fires symbolized known arsons and firebombings of Black churches according to Wikipedia. Some churches have since relocated-or never rebuilt-so I guesstimated some locations by sifting through news articles and other sources.
What surprised me most while I mapped this layer was the number of arsons that occurred in the 1990s. I assumed most of the church burnings occurred between the mid-19th and -20th centuries and tapered off after the Civil Rights Movement. However, apparently while I was minding my business in elementary school there was a streak of arsons across southern Black churches so significant, it motivated Congress to pass the Church Arson Prevention Act. I had no idea this was going on; although in elementary school my teachers taught us about current events like the Rodney King trial and the Million Man March, Black church burnings weren’t brought up. Maybe in their opinion it was too graphic to share with children. I can dig it.
“AK” (I’m from the land of the KKK, where the AK’s spray / Where your baby mama sell 30 rock like Tina Fey aye)
“AK” is dedicated to David Banner’s home of Mississippi and the living conditions for many Black communities within. Unfortunately it’s estimated over 1,000,000 African-Americans living in Mississippi are in poverty, and Black neighborhoods often still feel the effects of racism today. In his bars Banner calls out the Klu Klux Klan, an organization ubiquitous with white supremacy and domestic terrorism. The KKK has a presence across the American South and beyond, but only two places can claim its birthright. There were two iterations of the KKK: the First Klan was founded in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1865, and the Second Klan was founded in Stone Mountain, Georgia in 1915. Both locations are symbolized by AK-47 rifles as a shout out to the song’s title.
“Burning Thumbs” (What if God already came and we missed the damn boat / Ask Katrina Black folks don’t float so well)
“Burning Thumbs” almost sounds like a psalm to me. Not quite rapping, not exactly singing, set to a guitar and soft drums in the background. In a lamenting tone similar to his hook on “Cadillac on 22’s”, Banner asks the listeners to put their lighters up until they burn their thumbs, referencing crowds waiving lighters in the air at concerts (although now you’re more likely to see smartphone screens).
Banner mentions Hurricane Katrina in his bars. Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005. She landed as a Category 5 hurricane, taking at least 1,800 lives and causing over $125 billion in damage. Although most of the national story focused on New Orleans, Hurricane Katrina devasted coastline (and inland) communities across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and beyond.
The blue hurricanes symbolize the path of Hurricane Katrina according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which maintains an archive of hurricane patterns. The shapes grow and diminish in size in proportion to the hurricane’s category at that location.
“Evil Knievil” (How you say that don’t affect us / Tuskegee how you let them infect us?…This is for Tulsa, Oklahoma this for Rosewood / This for Philly when the cops bombed the whole hood / This for Harlem when the pigs stop and frisk / All my folks from the Congo tell Belgium suck a, suck a)
In OutKast’s “Reset” Khujo Goodie interpolates Ephesians 6:12, the bible passage that teaches about the Armor of God and that we are not at war with people, but with “principalities, against powers…spiritual wickedness in high places” (KJV). I see “Evil Knievel” as a counter, not to Khujo’s verse in particular, but the idea that evil isn’t personified.
Banner calls out five locations of white terrorism in the song: Tuskegee, Alabama (the Tuskegee Experiment); Tulsa, Oklahoma (the destruction of Black Wall Street); Rosewood, Florida (a predominantly Black town burned down by white supremacists in 1923); Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (a Black neighborhood was air bombed in 1985); and Harlem, New York (referencing New York City’s “Stop and Frisk” policy, which advocates say disproportionately targets young Black and Hispanic men).
These locations are symbolized by George Washington’s likeness. The cover art to the song features a collage of the US Presidents over time. Additionally, Banner uses a few president names in his punchlines: Barack pushed hope, Reagan pushed dope…
“Wizdom Selah” (When I think about things…they happen. I can actually do…what I think about. I’m so powerful, I need to give more honor to that. The divine power in, me, and be deliberate)
This map, and arguably the Hip-Hop Map Project as a whole, is my “Wizdom Selah”. All this started as a way to figure out how to retain my GIS skills, and now it’s manifesting into a larger concept, a larger conversation about hip-hop. I will continue to use geography to influence the culture as I create and tap into my divine power.
Sources. Not an exhaustive list, but it will get you on your way if you want more context on the layers:
Magnolia:
– Magnolia grandiflora, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_grandiflora
– “Southern Magnolia”, Silvics of North America, US Forestry Service, USDA, Agriculture Handbook 654: https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/misc/ag_654/volume_2/magnolia/grandiflora.htm
– David Banner Interview about Magnolia, FuseTV: https://www.fuse.tv/videos/2018/04/david-banner-magnolia-video-interview
Amy:
– Gucci Store locator: https://www.gucci.com/us/en/store?store-search=&search-cat=store-locator&gclid=CjwKCAjw4c-ZBhAEEiwAZ105RW-mDZwxC-OBlp7tqkeF_8tb7rpd6Ubsd9_CKD1kKpruYX5MM_mWABoChEoQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
– “It’s in the bag: Black consumer’s path to purchase.” Nielsen: https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2019/its-in-the-bag-black-consumer-path-to-purchase/
August:
– “Klay Thompson Sets NBA Record With 37 Points in a Quarter”, Bleacher Report: https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2341021-klay-thompson-sets-nba-record-with-37-points-in-a-quarter
Cleopatra Jones:
– Cleopatra Jones, Internet Movie Database: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069890/
– LA Conservancy, Granada Buildings: https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/granada-buildings
Marry Me:
– “Most Beautiful Destinations for a Fall Wedding”, Travel Noire: https://travelnoire.com/beautiful-destinations-fall-wedding
Judy Blare:
– States Where it is Illegal to Collect Rainwater, World Population Review: https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/states-where-it-is-illegal-to-collect-rainwater
Traffic on Mars:
– Timeline of the Boko Haram Insurgency, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Boko_Haram_insurgency
Black Fist:
– List of Attacks Against African-American Churches, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_attacks_against_African-American_churches
AK:
– Ku Klux Klan, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan
Burning Thumbs:
– Hurricane Track Archive, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association: https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/international-best-track-archive?name=rsmc-data
Rap GEO 