T.I.: Paper Trail

The CEO of Grand Hustle and the self-proclaimed ‘King of the South’ has certainly made a name for himself in the last few years. His breakout came in 2003 with Trap Muzik and T.I. (Clifford Harris Jr.) became a household name for the radio listeners, the music video watchers, and the hardcore hip hop fans. He was a large part of the southern uprising in the hip hop scene and out of all the other artist (one hit wonder or not) coming out of the south who are as commercially successful as T.I., he easily stands head and shoulders above all of them. Paper Trail is T.I.‘s return from a difficult year that included a firearms charge and a rather mediocre album (T.I. vs. T.I.P.) that had a lot of people wondering if he would return the skill-set he showed on one of the best releases of the 2006 year, King. This album is littered with narcissism, A-list guest appearances, and tracks for the ladies with a variety of production styles. T.I. had plenty of time to really focus on this album as he wrote it while being under house arrest for his pending charges. Does this writing relay nicely onto the disc or does it come off as a mash up of his frustrations and a need for him to remind veryone of his “swag”?

The DJ Toomp banger, “56 Bars,” starts off the album and has T.I. displaying a cocky tone to a lyrically boring track. The track comes off as three minutes of nothing because there is no structure to the rhyme scheme and lyrically it is more like a freestyle. So much for focused writing. Toomp is around again for another banger, “I’m Illy,” that suits T.I. extremely well and the MC speaks of taking whatever he wants, when he wants it. Oh, he let’s us know how rich he is throughout the entire track to. Original. The cliché subject matter is even more hurtful when he drops the tracks “Whatever You Like” and “Porn Star.”

Just Blaze co-produces “Live Your Life” which contains one of the stupidest samples possible and features Rihanna stealing the show with her feature on the upbeat chorus. The lyrical content, although cliché, is very necessary given the recent struggles of the emcee. Similar thoughts are unleashed on the very good “Ready For Whatever,” which talks directly about all of his legal issues.

It’s not all bad; as noted, his lyricism is simply a sign of the times for him. “No Matter What” is a very nice track that is backed by a great beat that does allow T.I. to preach a positive message. The most solid track on the album is the closer, “Dead and Gone,” produced by the one and only Justin Timberlake. It is a destroy and rebuild story of a man, backed by the haunting piano and a Timberland-esque beat, T.I. lets loose with JT returning the favour T.I. gave him with “My Love.”

How about Timberlake coming on the album and dropping the best beat on the whole damn thing?! This could be because the production is rather stagnant. The big names like Kanye, Just Blaze and Swizz Beatz seem out of their element, but Toomp goes 2 for 2.

A great quality about T.I. is his ability to carry a track regardless of how much it is deemed to not provide anything relevant. “I’m Illy” is a prime example of a song that shouldn’t be as good as it actually is because T.I. is able to lift up the production with his much improved flow and hunger. The problem is that this hunger seems too inconsistent throughout the album. “Swagger like Us” features Jay-Z, Lil Wayne and Kanye (both on the mic and production), but, it is still T.I. who drops the best verse on the song and possibly the album. The track is very addictive, even if it is the four cockiest rappers in hip hop talking about how much they have.

To say that you are the “King of the South” is a bold statement that T.I. has not yet lived up to. Especially with artist that came before him like Andre 3000, Bun B and Scarface and artist like Phonte and Ludacris more than able to take that crown, it is a risky claim that could backfire. This album is a return to his form on King, although not as stellar of a release, Mr. Harris does maintain his own despite all of his hardships. It is unfortunate that some of the best tracks on the album came as a result of the inspiration he got from his legal issues; hopefully he can take that inspiration and transfer it to something beyond “swag.”

Overall Rating: 65/100

Standout Tracks:

“I’m Illy”

“No Matter What”

“Ready For Whatever”

“Swagger Like Us”