"Rubber Band Man" is a song by American rapper

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

, released December 30, 2003 as the third single from his second studio album ''

Trap Muzik ''Trap Muzik'' is the second studio album by the American rapper T.I., released on August 19, 2003, by Atlantic Records and his newly founded record label Grand Hustle. Due to the poor sales on T.I.'s first album, '' I'm Serious'' (2001), T.I. ...

'' (2003).

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

from

David Banner Lavell William Crump (born April 11, 1974), known professionally as David Banner, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Born in Brookhaven, Mississippi, Banner's family moved to Jackson, Mississippi, where he was raised. Banner gra ...

was noted by music reviewers, particularly the ascending

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

riff that has been described as 'hypnotic' and 'pure halftime show'. Upon release, it charted reasonably well, peaking at number 30 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming T.I.'s first top 40 charting single. The song is included in the hits collections '' Totally Hits 2004'', ''Crunk Hits Volume 1'', and ''Hip Hop Hits Volume 9''. It was listed at number 34, on ''Complex Magazine'''s "Best Atlanta Rap Songs of all Time" and number 61, on their "Best Songs of the Decade."

Background

T.I. says the song's title is a reference to his habit of wearing

rubber band A rubber band (also known as an elastic, gum band or lacky band) is a loop of rubber, usually ring or oval shaped, and commonly used to hold multiple objects together. The rubber band was patented in England on March 17, 1845, by Stephen Perry ...

s around his wrist, a habit that dates back to when he was a

drug dealer A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestio ...

. There is also a previous song by soul group The Spinners with the same title which was made before T.I. was even born. The rubber bands are used to hold big wads of money together because they won't fit into a normal pocket wallet. Publicity efforts for the single were derailed by T.I.'s arrest in August 2003. At the end of the song, there is a skit advertisement for "buster card" and the number is reversed, so if you play that skit in reverse, the number is 404-349-5000 which is the number for a Subway Restaurant in Atlanta, GA.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by Darren Grant.

, Lil Duval,

Michael Vick Michael Dwayne Vick (born June 26, 1980) is an American college football coach and former player who is the Head coach, head football coach at Norfolk State Spartans football, Norfolk State University. He played quarterback in the National F ...

, Usher, Bow Wow, Jagged Edge, Steve Rudolph, Atlanta-based comedian Shawty,

YoungBloodZ YoungBloodZ is an American Southern hip hop duo from Atlanta, Georgia composed of J-Bo and Sean Paul (later stylized as Sean P) formed in 1997. The duo were discovered by Kawan Prather and signed with his company Ghet-O-Vision, an imprint of ...

Big Gipp Cameron F. Gipp (born April 28, 1973), better known by his stage name Big Gipp, is an American rapper. He is a member of the Atlanta-based hip hop group Goodie Mob, with whom he has released six studio albums, as well as the duo Ali & Gipp, with ...

, P. Diddy and

Jazze Pha Phalon Anton Alexander, known professionally as Jazze Pha ( ), is an American record producer, rapper, singer and songwriter. He founded the record label Sho'nuff Records in 1995, through which he signed R&B singer Ciara in 2003. He produced h ...

, all make

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

s in the video. The video also features several prominent shots of suburban Atlanta, including Bankhead courts and College Park.

Remix

The song was officially

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed and released in 2004, featuring verses from fellow American rappers

Mack 10 Dedrick D'Mon Rolison (born August 9, 1971), better known by his stage name Mack 10, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He was a member of hip hop supergroup Westside Connection along with WC and Ice C ...

Trick Daddy Maurice Samuel Young (born September 27, 1974), better known by his stage name Trick Daddy, is an American rapper from Miami, Florida. He is best known for his 2004 single " Let's Go" (featuring Twista and Lil Jon), which peaked at number seven on ...

and

Twista Carl Terrell Mitchell (born November 27, 1973), better known by his stage name Twista (also known as Tung Twista), is an American rapper. He is best known for his Chopper (rap), chopper style of rapping and for once holding the title of fastest ...

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

2004 singles Atlantic Records singles Grand Hustle Records singles Song recordings produced by David Banner Songs written by David Banner Songs written by T.I. T.I. songs 2003 songs {{2000s-hiphop-single-stub