Metal Lungies

[Incite a brawl on Sunday — your album leaks on Monday. Karma, people.]

They say, “Don’t let your mouth write a check that your ass can’t cash.” T.I. called himself the “King of the South” on album cuts from both ’03’s Trap Muzik and ’04’s Urban Legend, but, with last year’s aptly-titled King, the millions of new fans he gained (among them Justin Timberlake, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Denzel Washington), and a Grammy nod to boot, he not only cashed that check, he broke the bank. T.I. seemingly has nothing left to prove to anyone… except himself. Named after one of the many highlight tracks from Trap Muzik, a song which found T.I. and his extra-letter’d alter-ego arguing with each other, T.I. vs. T.I.P. attempts to build further from that concept. Business man vs. dope boy. The putting green vs. the block. Suit and tie vs. baggy jeans and a fitted. Making money vs. … making money. Well, nice to see that the two have something in common.

After the success of King, T.I. could’ve easily made an album titled King II, worked with the same people, made an album full of singles, and laughed all the way to the bank. Instead, T.I. appears to be branching out more, with a shortened, star-studded guest list and a slightly-altered line-up of producers — Wyclef Jean and Danja are in the mix, but no DJ Toomp, Swizz Beats, or Neptunes. Working around a concept such as T.I. vs. T.I.P. shows that he’s not resting on his already-solid reputation, and rather is focused on making solid albums… or so you would think.

I don’t like to compare a rapper’s new shit to his old shit, but since T.I. is quick to point out that he “had the album of the year, Grammy or not”, that sounds like an open invitation to do so. The first two singles off T.I. vs. T.I.P., “You Know What It Is” featuring Wyclef (which sounds a lot like “Rubberband Banks” from Young Dro’s album, for better or worse) and “Big Shit Poppin'”, are both good songs, but neither are quite as good as “What You Know”, “Why You Wanna”, or any of the other singles off King — that would explain why the chances of T.I. replicating ’06’s successes in ’07 are slim and none. Though there are plenty of good songs here, such as “Raw” and “Tell ‘Em I Said That”, both of which feature T.I.’s signature “he’s not real” shit-talking, none are likely to stand out amongst his 6 years and 4-going-on-5 albums of material. And, on top of that, there are some pretty forgettable tracks as well — “Da Dopeman” is as template a song as such a song title would imply, “My Swag” and “Don’t You Want To Be High” try too hard to be radio-friendly, and T.I.’s claims of coming to “save hip hop” on “Help Is Coming” make you wonder if he’s drinking the same water as the rest of us.

As I mentioned previously, T.I. vs. T.I.P. is light on guest appearances, and surprisingly — especially for the “King of the South” — features no prominent Southern rappers. The few guest appearances could have served to benefit T.I., though, as the short list is made up of some of rap music’s best sellers (back when rap music actually sold, that is). “Hurt” finds T.I. matching up with Busta Rhymes, who is back to his old double-time-flowing self (which was sorely missed on The Big Bang), while Jay-Z adds an ill middle verse to “Watch What You Say To Me”. However, “Touchdown”, featuring and produced by Eminem, is rather lackluster — it’s difficult to pinpoint which aspect of the song Em puts less of an effort toward. And then there’s the Nelly appearance on “Show It To Me”… yeah, let’s not talk about that one. As the album winds down, you can’t help but feel like a couple verse from rappers like Bun B, Young Buck, Young Dro, or Young anybody would’ve made things a bit more interesting.

Outside of the three “Act” interludes, which are spread throughout the album and showcase T.I.’s emotion better than any other song on here (“Act 1” may be his nicest verse on the whole album), the whole “inner battle” concept of T.I. vs. T.I.P. rarely comes into play, and the end result is a repetitive (both lyrically and production-wise) album that is not unlike any of his past work. In that regard, die-hard fans of T.I. may find this album enjoyable, but if you’re just now catching on to all of the hype, you’d be better off looking through dude’s catalogue. Or just take a nap between “Act 2” and “Act 3”.

Download: T.I. – “Big Shit Poppin'”

Download: T.I. – “You Know What It Is” featuring Wyclef Jean