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Life & Arts

T.I.'s 'King' has much to live up to

Hip-Hop Update

Eli Jabbe

Atlanta artist T.I.'s fourth album King, which drops Tuesday, is one of the most anticipated albums of the year. In addition to the album, T.I. is starring in the movie ATL, which is now in theaters. 

Personally, I think "Ride Wit Me" would have been a better first single for this album than "What You Know." While King looks as if it's going to be great, it probably won't surpass the greatness of "Trap Muzik" which is a bona fide classic.

However, King somewhat strays from T.I.'s usual sound. Past collaborators like Mannie Fresh, Swizz Beatz, DJ Toomp (producer of classic TI hits like "24s" and "Be Easy"), appear, along with usual artists like Bun B and Young Jeezy, but there are also new faces. One example is "Goodlife" featuring a beat and chorus from past collaborator Pharrell Williams, along with a guest verse from Common, which is a surprise. Also, Just Blaze, a great producer who has an East Coast sound (he's produced countless Jay-Z classics) produced two songs on this album, including "I'm Talking To You" where T.I. apparently takes shots at Lil Wayne and Ludacris.

Little Brother teams with DJ Drama

Little Brother is a very underrated group. Its 2005 album The Minstrel Show was great, but lacked exposure. DJ Drama, the hottest DJ right now, is a southern-based mix tape DJ who's made classic mix tapes with southern artists such as T.I. and Young Jeezy. The combination of these two seems odd, but it works out well. On the newly released Separate But Equal, the latest DJ Drama Gangsta Grillz mix tape, Little Brother gets more exposure. The group even collaborated with Southern legend Bun B, on "Candy," which worked out well.

T.O. attempts to rap

Star NFL receiver Terrell Owens has a new rap song on his Web site www.terrellowens.com. The song is hilarious, to say the least. I've always compared T.O. to 1990s NFL star Deion Sanders, because of his celebratory dances and his brash attitude that are similar to Prime Time's style. Sanders also tried his hand at rapping, as you might remember. Now T.O. does the same, with "I'm Back" where he takes shots at his former team, the Philadelphia Eagles, with lyrics like, "It's a brand new year, got a brand new team / I'm a Cowboy now / No more black and green."

T.O. also disses the critics with the line, "To the haters that said I wouldn't get my money / I'm laughing in your face / Ha ha, that's funny." T.O. also has the absolute best lyrical line of the year: "I'm back, but this time I'm a Cowboy / I'm back, and I've got them saying ‘Wow, boy.'"
 

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