T.I.

Well, it ain't The B.Coming. For those unacquainted with rap-stars-going-to-prison albums, Beanie Sigel's 2005 opus continues to stand as the high water mark for the sub, sub-genre, being a haunting, musically expansive and emotionally resonant record that captures the delicate psyche of Sigel right before he went up north. Saying that Paper Trail pales in comparison isn't to say that it isn't good, though, or even that some parts aren't great. It's just to say that fans anxious for a career-defining classic album from T.I. are going to have to wait until–at the very least–he gets out of the clink.

The album starts strong, with "56 Barz (Intro)," "I’m Illy," and "Ready for Whatever" addressing his upcoming incarceration on gun charges with the swirling tornado of emotions one would expect from a man facing such an uncertain future. It's a somber and defiant start to the album, and it works.

What doesn't work so much is the mélange of party tracks after. Some are good–the Ludacris collaboration "On Top of the World," "Live Your Life" and the chart-topping "Whatever You Like" are all excellent examples of what makes T.I. such an incredible MC. His technical skills on the mic more than make up for whatever he may lack in terms of subject matter or topic diversity. Some of those party tracks, however, fall short–"My Life, Your Entertainment" is limp mediocrity from start to finish. Others still are downright execrable–"Porn Star" manages to be even worse than the title would suggest though.

And that’s the most frustrating thing about the album, and T.I., for that matter. Aside from career highlights Trap Muzik and King, his albums are as often full of the scintillating as they are of the sluggish. Rather than harnessing the skills that have made him a superstar and using them to push his career in new directions, T.I. all too often relies on the unimaginative and insipid "album by committee" formula (serious, thug, conscious, for the ladies, rinse, repeat). Paper Trail, despite the potential for greatness, hews to that formula, and it's worse off for it.

When he does push in new directions, though, the results can be nothing short of spectacular–look no further than "No Matter What." Produced by Timbaland protégé Danja, the beat is a brain-exploding mixture of the old and new, smashing church organs into squiggly synths with outstanding results. And T.I. absolutely owns it, flipping a mercurial flow while he tackles the last year or so of his life in devastating fashion, bending syllables to his will while throwing out three of the best–and most inspiring—verses you'll hear in rap this year. It's show-stopping stuff, the type of single that classic albums are built from.

In the end, perhaps T.I. is just waiting to release his All Eyez On Me, the 2pac-helmed high water mark for another sub, sub-genre: the rap-star-just-out-of-prison album. One can only hope.

—Matt Mundy
09.30.08

House arrest would likely slow anyone's daily routine. It probably played a factor in T.I.'s decision to write down his rhymes for the first time since his debut. A year of jail time on the horizon would, just the same, impact a writer's output, and it has done just that on Paper Trail. Plenty of these tracks have nothing to do with T.I.'s federal weapons conviction -- escapist fare like the number one Hot 100 single "Whatever You Like" and the mindnumbing "Porn Star," where he's barely coasting -- but there is a sense of urgency and a new dimension of self-reflection not touched upon throughout the holding pattern that was T.I. vs T.I.P. And when he's just battling, as on "I'm Illy," he reaches a level of indignant rage that manages to top that of "I'm Talkin' to You." The M.I.A.-sampling, Kanye West-produced "Swagga Like Us" features verses from Jay-Z, West, and Lil Wayne, but its chunky, rugged, alien beat could've hit even harder with just T.I., whose pent-up swagger makes for the best vocal fit. The cut with multiple features that is deserving of even more talk is "On Top of the World," where B.o.B. and (especially) Ludacris complement atypical wealth-related T.I. boasts like "Cousins in college -- where you think they get tuition from?" The production work also helps place the album above T.I. vs T.I.P.; Toomp's return provides some much needed punch, as does Danja's slow motion, almost bluesy, organ-drenched beat for "No Matter What." ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide