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Gettin’ my thug on with the 5th (!) single from Big Boi’s offensively good new album, Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty. Tangerines truly are the American Dream. Flying back from my NYC vacation tomorrow so more frequent updates on the way (hey Robin how bout you post something).
Big Boi – “Tangerine ft. T.I. & Khujo Goodie”
T.I. – Paper Trail
“It’s the King, bitch,” T.I. announces to all willing to listen at the end of second track of his latest album, Paper Trail, and evidently a year of house arrest has done nothing to blunt T.I.’s cockiness nor his attacks on the haters. Considering the large amount of time he had to spend bumming around his multimillion-dollar mansion, it should come as no surprise that Paper Trail marks the first time since his debut that T.I. has handwritten all of the record’s lyrics, and there was certainly no shortage of material; fifty tracks were recorded, with a sizable sixteen making the final cut and coming in at an epic 73 minutes long. Thematically Paper Trail is more straightforward than 2007’s odd T.I. vs. T.I.P., mainly consisting of pointed jabs at jealous rivals (“I’m Illy”) and boisterous brags about how successful he’s been (single “Whatever You Like”).
T.I., like all southern gentlemen, is still quite the lothario with the ladies, as he displays on the tasteful slow jam “Porn Star,” remarking “I promise all I want to see is you under me,” but his performance is so half-hearted and the production so standard that the song comes off as a parody of itself. “What Up, What’s Haapnin’” is stereotypical southern-rap bombast, blaring horns and a rapid-fire drum beat framing T.I.’s repetitive “haters get out” message. And while the opening three songs are appropriately thug (“I’m Illy” is the highlight with a minimalist beat and a series of furious verses), all turn out to be a weak appetizer to the epic “On Top of the World” featuring Ludacris, the album’s first real success and a track that is not only effectively poppy but also a lyrically accomplished summation of T.I.’s career.
Paper Trail still keeps its eyes on the prize much more so than its predecessor, providing a series of future singles that will no doubt keep T.I. in the commercial spotlight for much of the next year. While “Live Your Life” is the current college favorite with a novelty “Numa Numa” sample and a Rihanna guest spot, the triumphant “No Matter What” is the easy centerpiece of the highlight with its squeaky synths and a Santana-esque guitar line on the chorus. The production is what you would assume from a T.I. album, a mix of standard southern rap, commercially viable poppy hip-hop, and the occasional inspired out-of-left-field beat (the “Paper Planes” sample on “Swagga Like Us”).
The typically superb production, strong supporting cast, and T.I.’s continually assured flow make up, for the most part, the regularly recycled themes that make up the majority of Paper Trail, and the one-two punch of “Slide Show” and “Dead And Gone,” featuring John Legend and Justin Timberlake respectively, that close out the album (not counting boring dud “You Ain’t Missin’ Nothing”), make sure that the crown of King of the South remains firmly in T.I.’s hands.
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