The album includes guest appearances from rappers Ludacris and Big Remo; and singers Erykah Badu, Anthony Hamilton, Marsha Ambrosius, Heather Victoria and Lisa Ivey.

A departure from Banner's past recordings, Death of a Pop Star received generally favorable reviews from music critics who deemed it the rapper's best work to date and gave praise to 9th Wonder's production.

[2] Pondering what went wrong, Banner felt marginalized by the music industry's expectations, and therefore, wanted to enlist an elite producer to explore further creative and challenging avenues.

"[2] With the intent of taking a different direction from songs like "Get Like Me" and "Play", Banner considered producers he wanted to work with, including 9th Wonder, Nottz, Just Blaze, DJ Khalil and Madlib.

"[4] Having produced his own music throughout his career, teaming up with 9th Wonder marks Banner's first time ceding control over production, sticking to microphone duties for the duration of an album.

[5][7] Borrowing a sound that originates in New York was a deliberate decision to help draw attention back to Banner's lyrical abilities.

[13] Initially, the two artists intended to release their joint project as a free mixtape; however, as the sessions exceeded expectations, they changed their mind.

[20] In October 2009, David Banner and 9th Wonder announced they would be setting up a website to accept donations toward the cost of producing the album, with half of the proceeds to be given to a non-profit organization.

[22][23] In April 2009, before an official announcement of the collaboration had been made public, 2DOPEBOYZ mentioned a track they called ""Channel 3" or "No Denyin'"", and provided a download link.

The song features North Carolina-based rapper Big Remo, who at the time was signed under 9th Wonder's independent record label, Jamla.

[42]On June 26, 2010, Hot 97 radio personality Peter Rosenberg hosted a special event called An Evening With... to interview the two emcee-producers, take questions from the audience, and preview music from the album, similar in format to James Lipton's Inside the Actors Studio show.

[45] The pair's intention was to make Death of a Pop Star a multimedia promotion;[46][47] as part of that scheme, on 10 December 2010, they launched a webcomic strip on the website, deathofapopstar.com.

"[47] Increasing the promotional efforts surrounding their album, the duo partnered with Konsole Kingz—an Atlanta-based company that combines hip hop with gaming—to design an album-inspired theme exclusively for PlayStation 3.

[49] Upon downloading the package, gamers could personalize their console's general interface (XMB) with six backgrounds and custom sounds produced by Banner and 9th as well as the Konsole Kingz silver icon pack.

He continued, "Having a game introduce Death of a Pop Star to someone falls directly in line with our mission statement with this album; be different and revolutionary.

"[49][50] The album's lead single, "Slow Down" featuring Jamla signee Heather Victoria, was leaked onto the Internet on January 21, 2010, and its music video premiered on June 21, 2010.

[13][57] The second single, "Be With You", featuring rapper Ludacris and singer Marsha Ambrosius, was released on November 3, 2010, and made purchasable twenty days later.

[62] On January 2, 2014, it was reported by TMZ that David Banner, Ludacris and Marsha Ambrosius received a copyright infringement lawsuit over allegedly using a sample of late soul singer Tyrone Davis' 1979 ballad, "Be With Me", without consent.

[64] Death of a Pop Star debuted at number 17 on the Billboard Top Rap Albums chart, selling 7,300 copies in its first week of release.

Justin Hunte, former editor-in-chief of HipHopDX, hailed Death of a Pop Star as David Banner's best and "most digestible" work to date and 9th Wonder's "most complete pet project" since his 2006 Murray's Revenge collaboration with rapper Murs.

[40] USA Today critic Steve Jones considered that 9th Wonder's soulful production provided a "compelling backdrop for Banner's pointed lyrics", and felt that the guest artists supplied "potent contributions".

[69] Emanuel Wallace of RapReviews found that the production "works exceptionally well with Banner's oftentimes aggressive flow", but continued that his "biggest gripe would have to be the brevity of the album".

[53] Jermaine Dobbins, writing for SoulCulture, observed that "[t]hose who remember the rapper's more explicit work such as 'Like a Pimp' or 'Play' would be forgiven for not [recognizing] this as the same man.

The raspy Southern drawl has been replaced by a clearer and enunciated voice that Banner effectively uses to teach, admonish and entertain with equal aplomb.

"[70] In spite of the seemingly odd pairing of the two artists, David Jeffries, reviewing for AllMusic, heard "a great chemistry" between them.

He felt that 9th Wonder's soulful production was "top-notch", though Banner was "the real attraction" for presenting himself as "a more layered and complicated artist" than showcased on previous works.

"[71] In a mixed review for Pitchfork, Jess Harvell panned the lyrics, labeling them "a mess", and criticized the album for being "heavy on drippy love raps", and for having "dumbly repetitive hooks" and "beats suspiciously lacking in thump-value".

Furthermore, he opined that "[t]here are moments throughout Death of a Pop Star that suggest the better album that might have resulted with a little more focus and intensity", and deemed Banner "too odd and talented, too much his own man, to wind up an also-ran in hip-hop history".

[72] According to Wilson McBee of Prefix Magazine, the album's weaknesses are "partially due to sequencing"; explaining that, "The record starts with blistering battle-rhyming, retreats into tepid alt-rap, and finishes with melancholy social critique."

[7] • (*) designates additional production Credits for Death of a Pop Star adapted from the album liner notes and AllMusic.