Expert Music Reviews

Release Date: September 30, 2008

Album: Paper Trail

Rating: ★★★★ (77 out of 100)

Review: T.I. proves his resilience and demonstrates his ability to continually deliver music that his listeners enjoy with “Paper Trail”, the sixth studio album from the Atlanta rapper. T.I. speaks like a true boss on this album, a far cry from the T.I. who just a year ago was facing weapons charges and the status of his “endorsements, movie deals, tour dates, fashion line [and] new album” were in serious jeopardy. The colossal single Whatever You Like, produced by South Florida producer Jim Jonsin, has dominated airplay and been the subject of many a reputable musician’s remix. Whatever You Like set a new Billboard Hot 100 record for the biggest one week leap to #1 in the chart’s history. T.I.’s signature flow is recognizable on the track I’m Illy, where T.I. raps “consider it a blessing if you get to stand next to me. Five star general, OG Veteran. Cake like Entenmann, blowin’ that celery, stack that cash like the US treasury, every single thing I ever did was done heavily, rappin’ til I’m seventy.” Make sure to listen to On Top Of The World featuring Ludacris and B.O.B.. T.I. and Rihanna collaborate on Live Your Life, a track sampled from the famous YouTube song “Dragostea Din Tei”. Another glaring example of T.I.’s uncanny lyrical ability is the song Live Your Life, where T.I. comes through with lyrics such as “never mind what haters say, ignore em’ til they fade away, amazing they ungrateful after all the game I gave away. Safe to say I paved the way for you cats to get paid today”. My Life Your Entertainment featuring Usher is another very strong track that you need to listen to. With a variety of production (Jim Jonsin, Just Blaze, Danja, Swizz Beatz, Kanye West, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and many others) and credible features, “Paper Trail” is an extremely well-rounded and listenable album. Don’t miss Swagga Like Us, the big name collabo between T.I., Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne which contains a vocal sample from MIA’s Paper Planes song. Slide Show and Dead And Gone featuring Justin Timberlake are two additional tracks you should check for. Lastly, listen to What Up, What’s Haapnin’  for one of the better, more characteristic T.I. songs off the album. We highly recommend “Paper Trail”; the Hustle Hard CEO put together an album that is not only enjoyable but miraculously lives up to all the hype. 

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