It's been a ridiculous year for Clifford Harris, to say the least. He "lost my daughter and my partner in the same year" and proceeded to get himself entangled in a possible one year jail sentence for illegal purchase of firearms. The impending sentence seems to just keep getting pushed back, it makes me wonder if it was all just one giant promotional tool. Would anybody really be surprised? The gangster image of hip-hop officially started it's death clock when 50 Cent's career started going down the drain. Whether he regains his throne with "Before I Self Destruct" is irrelevant: He will have to rap about something other than shooting people or getting shot to get the now too-hip-for-school teenage crowd to care. His three biggest current competitors all share the same track with him; the triumphant and indie savvy "Swagga Like Us". Lil Wayne is far and away the most popular rapper of the moment and he's so weird and talented that he can easily shed away the gangster image at will. Kanye never had it or wanted it, and thats seemed to work out just fine for him. Jay-Z can pretty much do whatever the fuck he wants, and at this point he's the only rapper to achieve so much and still rap like he has something to rap about; and he does, when he's on. It's thrilling to hear him just delve into a world none of us, including most of his peers, will ever know anything about.
So where does that leave T.I.? Pop superstardom? I think so, and I think he does too. Whether it be the near lack of gangster posturing or the duets with Rihanna and Usher, he seems to recognize that if he is going to keep his momentum he's gonna have to set his sights higher than D-Boy status. If it was all a ploy, it was a miracle of a stunt. If not, even better. He has the leverage to count on peoples sympathy for the hustler gone legit, something Jay perfected twelve years ago. He is in talks to have a reality show documenting his day to day life, which now i guess involves court ordered inspirational speeches to young kids etc. He either can't or doesn't want the full on gangster image anymore, so he's finally getting to what he's always been best at: making massive hits and pretty consistent albums.
Paper trail starts off with the aptly titled 56 Barz; so you see, he still enjoys rapping. Throughout the album he will continue to rap his ass off with Ludacris (whome he thankfully ended their lame fuede with) circling around the great chorus by B.O.B. on "On Top of the World". He proceeds to destroy Shawty Lo's career with "What's Up, What's Happenin", please the girl crowd with Rihanna and bank in on "Lollipop's" success with "Whatever You Like", another pop masterstroke from Jim Jonsin. He lays his famous swagger on thick throughout, check out the Swizz Beatz assisted "Swing Your Rag", "I'm Illy" and "Ready for Whatever." He even manages to find a fresh perspective on the played out notion that being famous is harder than it looks on "My Life, Your Entertainment" with a great chorus from Usher. He's appearing as all things to all listeners, and looking at the soundscan numbers he's not doing a bad job at all. Last time I checked half a million in your first week is the closest any rapper has came to Lil Wayne's ridiculous success with Tha Carter III earlier this year.
I'm sure T.I. would be mad at any review of his latest that didn't mention it's title. Paper Trail. He's writing his lyrics down again. Great, Jay and Wayne don't, Biggie didn't, Pac did. Whatever. It doesn't matter. If there is a noticable difference you can only tell it in the sentimental tracks, which may possibly be the best on the CD. His seemingly off the cuff swag and flow never required written lyrics; but when he sets his mind to conveying the emotions of one of music's biggest starts the results are startling. "No Matter What", with it's ridiculously ill Danja beat, finds T.I. at the height of his lyrical prowess. "You Ain't Missin Nothin" has Drumma Boy employing synths, keys, guitar and a lonely saxaphone to back up what may be Tip at his most vulnerable. It, along with the disc's final track, a duet with a recently absent Justin Timberlake, make a hell of a closer. It's a far cry from My Love pt. 2. It's called "Dead and Gone", and it gives the listener T.I.'s famous double time flow, along with a killer chorus by Timberlake before it develops into full on epic mode.
"I turn my head to the east, i dont see nobody by my side, i turn my head to the west, still nobody by my side, so i turn my head to the north, swallow tha pill that makes it alright, my homies dead and gone, but i think i'm gon' be alright." Hes going all out confessional on this one, but he still wants to have a good time. I don't see any problems for a very, very long time.
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