The God Box

Seven years after his last album, Southern hip-hop icon David Banner returns with a ferocious and timely takedown of the status quo. <i>The God Box</i> takes some of today’s most pressing issues—racism, misogyny, police brutality—and applies pressure. On “Magnolia", the album’s gritty and growling opener, he recalls the tree’s horrifying connection to slavery, setting a mood so heavy, even Cee-Lo Green can’t lift it. But Banner wants listeners to feel the weight of these issues. “Who Want It” stomps on political corruption, and “Elvis” calls out, by name, white voices who have taken over black music (“Lord don’t take my heart/Lord don’t take my soul/Lord don’t let them take hip-hop like they took rock and roll”).