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David Banner Says 9th Wonder 'Made Me Wanna Do Music Again'

'I had fun and gained a friend,' Banner says of working with the producer on 'Death of a Pop Star.'

[artist id="1215664"]David Banner[/artist] is feeling like a 2008 Dwyane Wade right now. The rapper/producer is putting the finishing touches on his 9th Wonder-assisted collaborative effort, [article id="1642807"]Death of a Pop Star[/article], his first new collection in nearly two years.

With a rekindled zeal for making music thanks to his work with 9th, Banner is set to revisit his most seminal LP, Mississippi: The Album, with hopes of delivering a redemptive effort à la Wade and his return to prominence after injuries slowed the star guard down.

"I'm working right now on Mississippi: The Album 3 -- it's called The Trinity Movement," Banner told MTV News. "It's the best work I've ever done and it's because I'm coming off of Death of a Pop Star -- the creativity coming off of Death of a Pop Star -- and I'm able to go in a slightly darker place with me. 'Cause some of the things I talk about on my album, I wouldn't put that pressure on a 9th album -- I think that responsibility should only be held by me. I have a lot of wild views and I know they're wild. They're meant to be. I would never put that on my friend. So I'm able to take that creativity and spin it off of 9th Wonder.

"It's like we playing basketball overseas for the USA and we win the gold -- that's how I'm feeling," he continued. "I'm coming right off of that and going into my next album."

Banner said the strain of making music and operating within the major-label system proved to be a grind for the Mississippi-bred star, but he credited the North Carolina rapper with helping to restore his faith in music. Banner said he was set on living comfortably in Los Angeles and focusing on acting and commercial advertising opportunities -- he recently scored a Gatorade spot.

"I had fun and gained a friend," he said of making Death of a Pop Star. "It made me wanna do music again."

Are you looking forward to David Banner revisiting Mississippi? Let us know in the comments!

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