Two of the most maligned states in the country have a couple of musical reasons to be proud these days.

One smiles on "American Idol" and sings like Luther Vandross -- an unabashed citizen of Alabama often seen in a shirt with its 205 area code across it.

The other snarls on his second solo CD and spits the kind of venom some have for his historically troubled birthplace, Mississippi.

"This is what came out of all that pain!" screams David Banner on the album's intro.

But don't be afraid: What the artist born Lavell Crump has actually come up with is an offering that makes you understand what could get you to the point of screaming; at the same time it's smart enough not to stay mired in that hate.

"Mississippi: The Album" opens like a compilation of many of the distinctly Southern hip-hop styles. There's the requisite, numbingly redundant boast about what part of town you're from ("What It Do"). There's the similarly charged, simple chant about the beating you may get if you come to another side of town starting something ("Might Getcha"). And the part-time Atlanta resident has a bouncy, wiggle-inducing soundtrack for this city's many famed strip clubs ("Like a Pimp").

Midway, however, the drum machines take a back seat to acoustic and wah-wah guitars, setting the tone for Banner's bluesy yelps about why he feels he has to do songs like "Pimp" ("Cadillac on 22's"); the appreciation he has for women ("My Shawty"); and on the title track, the inner turmoil wrought growing up in a place "where a flag means more than me."

David Banner will appear Wednesday at Jumpstreet Records (12:30 p.m.), DBS Sounds (1 p.m.) and Ear Wax (1:45 p.m.).

-- Sonia Murray

Inside AJC.COM

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