However, his experience working on the ad still upsets him, as PepsiCo, the sports drink’s parent company, had him redo the song 12 times before buying a throwaway track.

“The thing that hurt me with [that] situation is I had put them years into the future, but at that particular time, I wasn’t a big enough artist for them to jump off the mountain with me,” he said. “The problem is, you have people who want to be cool instead of really making a dope product. That’s what I realized a long time ago.”

When it comes to Banner’s individual brand strategy, he said he operates “on the edge.”

“From a marketing standpoint, I always try to put myself in a place that’s risqué but based in as much research as I can possibly have [to] move the needle,” he said.

The exec believes that for brands to authentically resonate with certain cultures and communities, they need to hire creatives who reflect the consumers they are trying to reach and ultimately release some creative control.

Correction May 5 at 11:50ET: The description of the throwaway track has been changed.