T.I. - King

[Greg Dona]

T.I. could very well be the epitome of the American rapper. His second album, Trap Muzik, flirted with platinum recognition at around 900,000 copies sold and his third, Urban Legend, attained said recognition quite easily. His latest release King already skyrocketed past the 1,000,000 mark based in large off of the universal success of its primary single “What You Know.” But the sales and songs only begin to just barely scratch the surface of Rubberband Man’s standing as the stereotypical American rapper.

Everything overly cautious and generalizing parents warn their children about with regard to the ever popular hip-hop culture seems to have materialized in Clifford Harris’s life. The man has dealt drugs, fathered four children with three different women, served prison time, and feuded with Lil’ Flip and Ludacris. Most recently he endured a devastating gunfight in which three members of his crew were tragically injured and another passed away soon after. Such a tumultuous adventure of a life typifies the story of the hip-hop phenomenon children idolize and guardians pray don’t actually exist.

So it is only fitting that T.I. release in his album King the quintessential hip-hop album. Past discs shone brilliantly as he exuded confidence in nine-tenths of his flawless beats. Effortlessly wrapping his smooth Atlanta drawl around every unified syllable, it seemed that for the most part T.I. could never misstep in a rap. However, inevitably a plea for radio play emerged and ultimately tainted the disc as a whole work as opposed to a simple collection of singles. King wastes no time in putting out a thriller in “What You Know.” No wording adequately captures the perfect cockiness exhibited by T.I.P. on the track as he manages to rhyme perfectly throughout the whole of the song. He effortlessly flows so beautifully that entire sentences slosh and run together while still maintaining a crisp precision that allows for the clarity necessary for undeniable enjoyment of the track. Many argued that Young Jeezy’s Let’s Get It: Thug Motivation 101 proved him more capable than T.I. of releasing the divine record despite his apparent inferiority in skills. “What You Know” immediately strikes doubters down with its majestic sound and overwhelming aural domination. Here he reigns infinitely superior to the already impressive and accomplished Jeezy.

The second single to be released from King illustrates yet another turn from Rubberband Man’s storied past in lyrics. “Why You Wanna” sings about the grace of a woman and questions the ability of a gentleman to adequately satisfy her. Such a stance represents a lyrical 180º from past tales of misogyny and debauchery. “Ride Wit’ Me” displays T.I. yet again polishing his silky smooth flow. He seemingly never pauses for inhalation; T.I.P. leaves breathing to mere mortal rappers. Even skits hold relevance on his fourth album, for they provide a much needed comedic break amidst a symphony of noise. T.I. picks up where he left off in terms of outshining the field with his best pieces and on King eliminates the flops that in past times rendered his work good as opposed to magnificent.

T.I. proves to be an elite rapper by outdoing legendary UGK, Texas’s answer to Eightball and MJG, rising star Young Jeezy, and established rap cornerstone Common among others with apparent ease throughout the whole of his disc King. This album, orgasmic in nature, sets the bar for rappers everywhere. Few will be able to step up to the plate and successfully answer the challenge issued.

[so typical]

good review...lovely.

[invincibleXL]

nice review, though I disagree.

i don't like this cd at all. it had no lasting value to me whatsoever. My favorite southern rapper is Ludacris, because of his clever rhymes, melodies, and ridiculous flows. I just can't stand TI anyways.

[xjamesax]

Its good to see that Absolutepunk.net is being musically diverse.

[Blake Solomon]

Good review, this album is pretty good. Though, i also dont think it has much lasting power.

[Greg Dona]

Its good to see that Absolutepunk.net is being musically diverse.
I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or sincere. Either way, I've been covering mostly hip-hop and the sort around here when I'm blessed with a functional computer. So yea, I try to bring a little diversity since the other reviewers have punk stuff so well covered.

[youareallfreaks]

great review. love this cd.

[senortetas]

I'm not sure if you're being sarcastic or sincere. Either way, I've been covering mostly hip-hop and the sort around here when I'm blessed with a functional computer. So yea, I try to bring a little diversity since the other reviewers have punk stuff so well covered.

I think he was being serious, but I'm also glad ap.net is covering lots of different genres, because I listen to just as much hip-hop (though I'd call T.I. rap more than hip-hop) as I do punk rock, so it's nice to see reviews of albums beside punk albums

[IwishIwasCool]

absolute shit

[Ender217]

A much better review than that Angels & Airwaves crap review that was front paged yesterday.

[rellish91]

underground southern hip hop is where its at. im always arguing with my indie friends because they like garage shit. i like metaphors in my hip hop. houston is where its at.

[DaveFeelsRight]

Don't like T.I. but nice review


BTW, watch for the punx

[mikeford]

hip hop is the last "punk" thing left in this country.

excellent review. i was beginning to think no one on this site liked ANYTHING touched by mainstream radio outside of kanye west.

album is great but i liked trap musik better, for the record.

[chcougar1]

Its good to see that Absolutepunk.net is being musically diverse.


Actually, Jason even said he wishes he could rename the site....doesnt necessarily always have to be about punk dude

[Greg Dona]

A much better review than that Angels & Airwaves crap review that was front paged yesterday.
Haha I could take that as a compliment since I must be improving or as an insult since you're calling my AVA review crap. I'll do the former: thanks.

underground southern hip hop is where its at. im always arguing with my indie friends because they like garage shit. i like metaphors in my hip hop. houston is where its at.
Houston is putting out some really good rap. Chamillionaire is one of my favorites. And you're from Dallas which makes you a huge pimp. Anyways, the Paul Wall and Cham collaborations are incredible. I'm actually listening to "Falsifyin'" right now.

[girlrepellant]

god damn this review is filled with adjectives

[Rock]

This album, orgasmic in nature
you don't consider describing this album as being "orgasmic in nature" to be the slightest bit over-the-top?

[HoldFastHope]

Fishscale owns King without a doubt.

[redeyes]

yeah, TI has surpassed common, you're right. and fire's cold, and cotton candy tastes bad.

dambass. quit makin stupid claims taht clearly invalid and unwarranted. try goin off something other than commercial success when you rate artists.

[Greg Dona]

yeah, TI has surpassed common, you're right. and fire's cold, and cotton candy tastes bad.

dambass. quit makin stupid claims taht clearly invalid and unwarranted. try goin off something other than commercial success when you rate artists.
I said that T.I. outshined Common on the track they share on King.

Also try not to rag on somebody's intelligence and use "dambass" and "taht." I don't really care for pointing out grammar issues but try not to make such blatant errors when you're calling me an idiot.

you don't consider describing this album as being "orgasmic in nature" to be the slightest bit over-the-top?
Absolutely not. This is one of my favorite albums of the year. I definately put it in the same category as Fishscale and the sort. I'd really like to see what Pitchfork or another punk site had to say about it.

[GoWaitInTheCar]

Its good to see that Absolutepunk.net is being musically diverse.

I dunno if you are being sarcastic or not, but if you aren't, I 100% agree with you.

Greg's my boy. We go waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa y back. Okay, maybe not that far..

[zizou1790]

ive only heard the 2 singles and im a fan

[Bobcat46308]

damn, already platinum. why the hell do rap records always do so well?

[GoWaitInTheCar]

damn, already platinum. why the hell do rap records always do so well?

Cause rap is the most popular music right now.

[Dan CiTi]

hip hop is the last "punk" thing left in this country.
That's mostly true. If you've seen the Punk Attitude documentary they talk about that.

This album, orgasmic in nature.
I find All We Know Is Falling fits under that word, well vocally.

Anyway, I like this album but it's not gonna be one of favs of '06;I also enjoy Ludacris more but T.I. is still great stuff.

[HoldFastHope]

Absolutely not. This is one of my favorite albums of the year. I definately put it in the same category as Fishscale and the sort. I'd really like to see what Pitchfork or another punk site had to say about it.

I don't understand how you can possibly compare the two. TI hardly raps, he just goes for hooks, while Ghostface does nothing but rap. It's fine if you like the cd, but you're comparing hip-hop with rap by making that comparison. TI makes his money on catchy beats and the aforementioned hoooks. It can be argued that Common had a couple songs like that on Be, but still he's a far superior rapper to TI when it comes down to it. And do you really think it's a coincidence that he "outshined" Common on the song on his own cd? Common's rapping has substance and meaning, where you can see what TI goes for on Front Back. It's like comparing the lyrical content of NFG and Bad Religion, you just can't do it. It's good music, but content-wise it lacks just like all hip-hop (which is incorrectly categorized as rap).

[Greg Dona]

I don't understand how you can possibly compare the two. TI hardly raps, he just goes for hooks, while Ghostface does nothing but rap. It's fine if you like the cd, but you're comparing hip-hop with rap by making that comparison. TI makes his money on catchy beats and the aforementioned hoooks. It can be argued that Common had a couple songs like that on Be, but still he's a far superior rapper to TI when it comes down to it. And do you really think it's a coincidence that he "outshined" Common on the song on his own cd? Common's rapping has substance and meaning, where you can see what TI goes for on Front Back. It's like comparing the lyrical content of NFG and Bad Religion, you just can't do it. It's good music, but content-wise it lacks just like all hip-hop (which is incorrectly categorized as rap).
I was unclear in saying that I would put those two in the same category. They are obviously different types of music (as you stated) and I was simply trying to state that I enjoyed each of those discs approximately equal amounts. I'm not sure how many times I need to clarify the following; I am not saying that T.I. is a better rapper than Common! All I wanted to say is that he outshined him on one track. No, that is obviously not a coincidence which is why I neglected to hint as to who is in fact the better musician in my opinion.

[GoTHErelentless]

yeah, TI has surpassed common, you're right. and fire's cold, and cotton candy tastes bad.

dambass. quit makin stupid claims taht clearly invalid and unwarranted. try goin off something other than commercial success when you rate artists.


someone's jockin the com'sense dick.

is everyone this sensitive on AP? I think Kanye West has the shittiest flow since Cam'Ron, and consider Ludacris nothing more than a campy commedian. does that mean I just offended the majority of the rap fans that post here?

anyways, TI's great. only became a fan with Urban Legend which was a superb album (aside from that Lil Kim track, the Pharell track, and maybe one or two shitty ones. 'In My Life' more than makes up for it's shittiness though). been looking for a reason to pick this up, but I really haven't seen a mainstream rap CD worth buying since... jesus christ, it's been so long.

the last two good mainstream CDs I bought were Devin the Dude -- 2 the Xtreme and Lil Wayne -- the Carter 2. that's a long time ago... so maybe this and the new Busta/Ghostface will get me back to listening.

[Greg Dona]

someone's jockin the com'sense dick.

is everyone this sensitive on AP? I think Kanye West has the shittiest flow since Cam'Ron, and consider Ludacris nothing more than a campy commedian. does that mean I just offended the majority of the rap fans that post here?

anyways, TI's great. only became a fan with Urban Legend which was a superb album (aside from that Lil Kim track, the Pharell track, and maybe one or two shitty ones. 'In My Life' more than makes up for it's shittiness though). been looking for a reason to pick this up, but I really haven't seen a mainstream rap CD worth buying since... jesus christ, it's been so long.

the last two good mainstream CDs I bought were Devin the Dude -- 2 the Xtreme and Lil Wayne -- the Carter 2. that's a long time ago... so maybe this and the new Busta/Ghostface will get me back to listening.
Tha Carter II... so good, so good.

[mikeford]

hiphop and rap are the same thing, by the way. someone in this thread tried to say they werent and my brain hurt afterwards.

lil wayne is the best rapper out right now.

[HoldFastHope]

Tha Carter II... so good, so good.

Agreed, and Tha Carter is just as good.

[daBNmaradona]

his new album sucks balls. what a waste of my money. probably 2 hits and rest fillers. his last two were so good. ***** fell off!

[xThursdayxPTWx]

T.I. is probably the only good Southern rapper. But outdoes Common? I don't know, Common's a much different kind of rapper I don't even think you can compare the 2, other than that nice review.

[AEast317]

Haha I could take that as a compliment since I must be improving or as an insult since you're calling my AVA review crap. I'll do the former: thanks.


Houston is putting out some really good rap. Chamillionaire is one of my favorites. And you're from Dallas which makes you a huge pimp. Anyways, the Paul Wall and Cham collaborations are incredible. I'm actually listening to "Falsifyin'" right now.

get yo mind correct = classic

the success cham is gettin now should have came in 2002. definately

[AEast317]

T.I. is probably the only good Southern rapper. But outdoes Common? I don't know, Common's a much different kind of rapper I don't even think you can compare the 2, other than that nice review.

chamillionaire, bun b, devin the dude, scarface, lil keke, 8 ball and mjg,

how can you say T.I. is the only good southern rapper....

[xThursdayxPTWx]

chamillionaire, bun b, devin the dude, scarface, lil keke, 8 ball and mjg,

how can you say T.I. is the only good southern rapper....

I like Scarface but not the other dudes.

[GoTHErelentless]

Devin the Dude is the best rapper from the South other than Lil Wayne.

Devin the Dude is amazing.

[No IThinkNot]

Its good to see that Absolutepunk.net is being musically diverse.

Word, homie.