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Certified
Certified
Studio album by David Banner
Released	September 20, 2005
Recorded	2004–2005
Studio	Stankonia (Atlanta, GA); Patchwerk Studios (Atlanta, GA); Sony Studios (New York, NY); Chi-Roc Studios (Chicago, IL); The Zone (Atlanta, GA); Warrior Studios (Brooklyn, NY); The Cutting Room Studios (New York, NY);
Genre	Southern hip hop; gangsta rap; crunk; dirty rap;
Length	1:08:35
Label	SRC; Universal;
Producer	Chris Flame; Cyber Sapp; David Banner; Downbeat Production Collective; Get Cool; Jazze Pha; Lil' Jon; Maestro; Mr. Collipark;
David Banner chronology
Singles from Certified
	"Play"; Released: July 7, 2005; "Touching"; Released: January 10, 2006;

Certified is the fourth studio album by American rapper and record producer David Banner. It was released on September 20, 2005 through Street Records Corporation and Universal Records.

Recording sessions took place at Stankonia Recording and PatchWerk Recording Studios and The Zone in Atlanta, Sony Music Studios, Warrior Studios and The Cutting Room Studios in New York and Chi-Roc Studios in Chicago.

Production was handled by Chris Flame, Cyber Sapp, Downbeat Production Collective, Get Cool, Jazze Pha, Lil' Jon, Maestro, Mr. Collipark, and David Banner himself, with Billy Hume, Craig Love, Jake Arnold, Kevin Rudolf and Mike Hartnett serving as co-producers.

It features guest appearances from Jazze Pha, Mr. Marcus, Skyy, 8Ball & MJG, B.G., Bun B, Case, dead prez, Grout, Jadakiss, Jagged Edge, Lil' Boosie, Magic, Talib Kweli, Three 6 Mafia, Too $hort and Twista, as well as his Crooked Lettaz cohort Kamikaze.

In the United States, the album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, number three on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number two on the Top Rap Albums charts. Its only single "Play" peaked at number seven on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 96 on the UK singles chart. Music videos were released for "Play"^[1] and "Ain't Got Nothin'".^[2]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	71/100^[3]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B−^[5]
musicOMH	^[6]
Okayplayer	^[7]
Pitchfork	8.4/10^[8]
PopMatters	^[9]
RapReviews	9/10^[10]
Stylus Magazine	B−^[11]
USA Today	^[12]
Vibe	^[13]

Certified garnered positive reviews from music critics who praised Banner's approach to over-the-top hip-hop stories and insightful political tracks. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 71, based on 13 reviews.^[3]

Pedro Hernandez of RapReviews gave high praise to Banner for building upon his previous material and delivered an album with solid production, balanced themes and capable guest artists, concluding that "Certified treads a fine line between keeping it real and selling units, but Banner treads that line very well. Though it is his best album to date, hopefully this is only the beginning for the game's most conscious rapper."^[10] AllMusic's Andy Kellman said that despite the cluttered list of guest artists, the record delivers on Banner's established material with higher production values and gusto conviction, saying that "Certified certifies that Banner is as crucial to hip-hop in the early 2000s as any other MC."^[4] Dan Nishimoto of PopMatters admired Banner's approach of crafting a mainstream hip-hop album that over-exaggerates tropes while delivering serious topics in disguise, saying that "Certified's appeal lies in this tightrope act. Fully aware of his captive audience, Banner goes for broke to bring in as wide a swath as possible."^[9]

Steve Jones of USA Today praised the album's balance of both political and sex-filled tracks, saying that "It's a mix that is certified to both educate and entertain."^[12] Evan McGarvey of Stylus Magazine was lukewarm on the record, finding the production and guest artists not at the level of Banner's vision at times but said that its still able to deliver its twisted empathy, saying that, "Certified is mostly a frightening album because it’s so clearly not up to Banner’s full potential but still a dramatic cut above almost everything else."^[11] Azeem Ahmad of musicOMH felt that the album was over-bloated with numerous songs that told the same inane stories over similar beats found in Lil Jon's discography, concluding that "There's little familiarity, too little to relate to on Certified, and I for one would rather give airtime to British talent than to try and push the likes of David Banner, whose music may be groundbreaking, but is alien to our ears."^[6]

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Lost Souls"	Lavell Crump Skyler Synclair Keeton Craig Love	David Banner Craig Love (co.)	3:13
2.	"Treat Me Like" (featuring Jadakiss)	Crump Jason Phillips Jonathan Smith	Lil' Jon	3:53
3.	"Gangster Walk" (featuring Three 6 Mafia, Marcus, 8Ball & MJG)	Crump Paul Beauregard Jordan Houston Marcus Williams Premro Smith Marlon Goodwin Keldrick Sapp	Cyber Sapp	4:28
4.	"2 Fingers" (featuring Jagged Edge)	Crump Brandon Casey	David Banner	3:29
5.	"Play"	Crump Michael Crooms	Mr. Collipark	3:50
6.	"Fucking" (featuring Jazze Pha)	Crump Phalon Alexander	Jazze Pha	3:51
7.	"Thinking of You" (featuring Case)	Crump Case Woodard Kevin Rudolf	David Banner Kevin Rudolf (co.)	5:02
8.	"On Everything" (featuring Twista)	Crump Carl Mitchell Willie Poole Nile Rodgers	Get Cool	4:09
9.	"Certified" (featuring Marcus)	Crump Williams Alexander	David Banner	4:11
10.	"Ain't Got Nothing" (featuring Magic & Lil' Boosie)	Crump Awood Johnson Torrence Hatch	David Banner	3:52
11.	"Bloody War" (featuring B.G.)	Crump Christopher Dorsey	David Banner	4:30
12.	"Westside"	Crump Vaushaun Brooks	Maestro	3:32
13.	"Take Your" (featuring Too $hort, Bun B & Jazze Pha)	Crump Todd Shaw Bernard Freeman Alexander Chris Ussery	Chris Flame David Banner	4:42
14.	"My Life" (featuring Skyy)	Crump Keeton	David Banner Mike Hartnett (co.)	3:54
15.	"Ridin'" (featuring Talib Kweli & dead prez)	Crump Talib Kweli Greene Lavonne Alford Clayton Gavin Laurent Alfred Earnest Franklin Vijay Iyer	Downbeat Production Collective	4:33
16.	"X-Ed" (featuring Kamikaze)	Crump Brad Franklin	David Banner	3:41
17.	"Crossroads" (featuring Grout)	Crump William Whedbee Jake Arnold	David Banner Billy Hume (co.) Jake Arnold (co.)	3:45
Total length:				1:08:35

Bonus track^[14]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
18.	"Shake That Booty (Krumpa Remix)" (featuring Elephant Man)	Crump O'Neil Bryan Dwayne Chin-Quee	3:06

Sample credits

Track 8 contains elements from "King's Motorcade" written by Nile Rodgers from the motion picture "Coming to America".

Charts

Chart (2005)	Peak position
US Billboard 200^[15]	6
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)^[16]	3
US Top Rap Albums (Billboard)^[17]	2

References

^ DavidBannerVEVO (October 7, 2009). "David Banner - Play (Official Music Video)". Retrieved September 22, 2024 – via YouTube.
^ DavidBannerVEVO (October 7, 2009). "David Banner - Ain't Got Nothing ft. Magic, Lil Boosie (Official Music Video)". Retrieved September 22, 2024 – via YouTube.
^ ^a ^b "Reviews for Certified by David Banner". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
^ ^a ^b Kellman, Andy. "Certified - David Banner". AllMusic. Archived from the original on November 27, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
^ Sinclair, Tom (September 16, 2005). "Certified". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Archived from the original on January 25, 2008. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Ahmad, Azeem (February 13, 2006). "David Banner - Certified". MusicOMH. Archived from the original on April 13, 2007. Retrieved October 10, 2015.
^ Ruhi, Adrian (September 2005). "David Banner - Certified". Archived from the original on October 17, 2006. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
^ Shepherd, Julianne (September 20, 2005). "David Banner: Certified". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on June 12, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Nishimoto, Dan (September 28, 2005). "David Banner: Certified". PopMatters. Archived from the original on September 18, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
^ ^a ^b Hernandez, Pedro (September 27, 2005). "David Banner :: Certified :: Universal Records". RapReviews. Archived from the original on December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
^ ^a ^b McGarvey, Evan (September 26, 2005). "David Banner - Certified - Review". Stylus Magazine. Archived from the original on July 25, 2009. Retrieved December 20, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Jones, Steve (September 19, 2005). "Bon Jovi rocks; Streisand rolls". USA Today. Gannett. Archived from the original on February 10, 2021. Retrieved September 18, 2021.
^ Golianopoulos, Thomas (August 22, 2005). "David Banner - Certified (Universal)". Vibe. Vibe Media. Archived from the original on October 20, 2006. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
^ "Certified (Bonus Track Version) by David Banner on iTunes". ITunes (US). September 20, 2005. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
^ "David Banner Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
^ "David Banner Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
^ "David Banner Chart History (Top Rap Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved September 22, 2024.