T.I. - Paper Trail: Album Review
T.I., Paper Trail (Atlantic, 2008)
Last year, T.I. got caught trying to buy some machine guns out of a guy's trunk in the parking lot of the BET Awards. He spent quite a bit of time on house arrest, went to trial and ended up with a surprisingly light sentence, though he is gonna have to spend some time in jail. In the interim, he put together this album. Many of its songs deal with the issues he's been facing for the past year or so.
56 BARS
T.I.'s back working with DJ Toomp, the guy who produced "What You Know, and with whom I think he may have once had a falling out. This is no "What You Know," even though it's got a similar synth thing going on in the background. Mostly though, it's kinda generic-sounding, in a Mannie Fresh sort of way.
I'M ILLY
T.I. sounds pissed off and/or nervous that he's about to go off to prison, where he could get raped. He's a pretty small guy, but maybe he'll get lucky and receive special treatment, because he's a celebrity. At any rate, the adversity seems to have done wonders for his rappin'. I could use him pissed off like this all the time.
READY FOR WHATEVER
Perhaps the most egregious "What You Know" knockoff to date. And keep in mind, at least half of the songs he's put out since then kinda sound like "What You Know." Towards the end, T.I. explains why he was stockpiling an arsenal in his bedroom closet.
ON TOP OF THE WORLD
A triumphant posse cut with Ludacris and B.O.B., whoever that is. I think T.I. and Luda used to have some Elliott Wilson vs. Benzino-style lightskinted bros beef, so it's good to see they patched things up.
LIVE YOUR LIFE
Oh crap, it's a remake of the Numa Numa song, with Rihanna on the chorus! Who knew there could even be such a bad idea? And how is this beat by Just Blaze? Remember when Just Blaze would give T.I. beats that actually sounded like Just Blaze beats? So what if it was a waste of a perfectly good Just Blaze beat; it wasn't as bad as this.
WHATEVER YOU LIKE
The trick's anthem. I can hardly even listen to this shit.
NO MATTER WHAT
What's this, an instance of production that's actually interesting on a T.I. album? I'm not even sure if I like this. I'm just glad it doesn't sound like half of the other shit on this album. Something else I'll point out: I notice there's a lot of references to blogs on this album. A blog post must have rubbed him the wrong way. No Johnny Gill.
MY LIFE, YOUR ENTERTAINMENT
Your typical fame is a bitch lament, with Ursher on the chorus.
PORN STAR
The gayest song I've ever heard in my life.
SWING YA RAG
Again, how come this Swizz Beatz joint sounds more like a T.I. record than a Swizz Beatz record? I don't even remember it sounding quite like this when I first heard it, a while back. Hmm...
WHAT UP, WHAT'S HAPPENING
The one where he goes at that guy Shawty Lo for claiming he wasn't from whatever ghetto he said he was from. He doesn't address that page from his yearbook, which looks like it could be from my high school, but he did shoot a video in the projects where Shawty Lo is from, albeit while he wasn't there. Aww dang...
EVERY CHANCE I GET
Another one of these DJ Toomp joints. Musically, these do nothing for me at all.
SWAGGA LIKE US
The epic collaboration with Jay-Z, Kanye, and Lil' Wayne. Supposedly, Jay-Z's gonna put this on his new album as well, even though no one seems to really care for it. I suppose it could be worse. It could be that song "Mr. Carter." That song made me hate my life even more than I already did.
SLIDE SHOW
The production on this one is so gay, you could replace T.I. with Will.I.Am and you'd have one hell of a Barack Obama tribute. John Legend, of course, sings the chorus.
YOU AIN'T MISSIN' NOTHING
T.I. reflects on the time he's about to spend in the pokey. The production sounds like it could be incidental music in a 1982-era pr0n film. But in a bad way.
DEAD AND GONE
Oh crap, it's a D.R.S.-style dead homies tribute, featuring Justin Timberlake, that kinda sounds like that one Justin Timberlake and T.I. record so many cracka-ass cracka music critics pretended to like a couple of years ago! I can't believe Timberlake actually uses the term homies.
COMMENTS: I can't even front. I like this way more than I liked King or T.I. vs. T.I.P. The thought that he's gonna go to jail, where he might get raped, has obviously lit a fire under T.I.'s ass. Nullus. The fact that his bitching about his case and blogs and what have you makes for such compelling subject matter just goes to show how dreadfully boring most southern rap really is. I would never listen to this again of my own volition, but I might hold onto a copy just in case I have to spend any time around people who wouldn't know from good rap music.
BEST TRACKS: "I'm Illy" "On Top of the World" "No Matter What"
BONUS VIDEO: Diddy "Swagger Like Puff"
