I was pretty upset when T.I. was caught in a federal gun sting last fall. Above all, my heart went out to a smart, personable artist who’d gotten himself into some major trouble — and on a purely selfish level, I worried that the 30-year prison term he was facing might cut the career of one of my favorite rappers way too short. But T.I. was able to strike an extraordinarily lenient plea bargain last month, and today he debuted his first post-arrest music. "No Matter What," the lead single from his new album Paper Trail (now bumped up to an August 12 release), is streaming on StreetCred.com; you can also check it out below. So how does T.I. sound these days?
Good news: This ordeal hasn’t taken anything out of him, talent-wise. That’s not to say he hasn’t changed. The T.I. we knew was a stylish lyricist, a guy who grinned as he delivered boasts and death threats in a shower of mellifluous verse. Here he slows that quicksilver flow down to a reflective drawl that matches producer Nate "Danja" Hills’ stately beat. He wants us to hear what he has to say. That includes words of genuine contrition: "Apologies to the fans, I hope you can understand it/Life can changedirections, even when you ain’t plan it/All you can do is handleit." It also includes some glimpses of defiant pride: "Pain’s a small thing to a giant/I was born without a dime/Out thegutter I climbed/Spoke my mind/And didn’t stutter one time/Ali saideven the greatest have to suffer sometimes." Ultimately, he settles on a spirituality that recalls Tupac Shakur’s most influential work: "I hope the picture’s painted clear/If your heart’s filled with faith, then you can’t fear/Wonder how I faced years and I’m still chilling?/Easy: Let go and let God deal with it." There are more than a few contradictions and ambiguities packed into all that — and he never quite gets around to talking about what was going through his mind when he decided to buy up all those illegal weapons. Then again, it would have been very easy for T.I. to back away entirely from his inner turmoil and cut an impersonal club banger for his first single. I’m glad he chose to bare his (complicated) soul again instead. Aren’t you?
Comments (1-26) of 26 Add your comment
Why are you celebrating an artist through such a negative impact that he had on society. He wasn’t caught simply with a gun, but with many semi-automatic weapons. Clearly they weren’t for target practice within a shooting range. Had I been charged with the same offenses, I’d be sentenced to prison for a long time.
Yeah I agree. I was disappointed and pretty mad at T.I. as I am big fan too. When the charges were brought up I was surprised because I thought he was done with that foolishness -consider he was in American Gangster and had a hit verse with Justin Timberlake. I even called him an idiot in of one of my articles haha. Check
http://www.yorapper.com/ti-you-blithering-idiot/
Rap is music’s lowest common denominator. If you can even call it music.
Artist? Way to generous a label to put on crap like this.
No surprise, hearing the usual ‘rap is crap’ banter from people who hate the genre. If you don’t care for the it, why are you wasting your time commenting over any artist involved? You don’t see anyone lambasting country or rock/metal artists, solely because you dislike the genre. At least Allison makes a valid point.
I won’t say I was a big T.I. fan, but he had some decent material in his last few CDs. It ain’t the best rap has to offer, but compared to Soulja Boy, it is. I was pretty disappointed in T.I., since he’s a fairly intelligent rap artist. Why he decided to carry around enough firearms to start a small arms war is beyond me. TI better not only thank his lawyer, because very few people would’ve received a deal like that, but also wise up, because he used up all his second chances.
I won’t boycott his music, but man was that stunt beyond foolish.
TI was foolish. He was downright stupid. But, I’m not going to vilify him. He’s asked for forgiveness and the whole point of our society is to punish you for your crimes, you pay your time, and then come out to try to lead a normal life. It’s not about being judged. On that note, I’m looking forward to the new CD. And for the people who talk about how rap is crap, needs to open their eyes, listen to artists like Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, The Roots. It’s not about women, bling, or making it rain, to those artists I just mentioned, it’s about the social ills. Rap isn’t crap, it’s just on the wrong path.
Simon, I enjoy your rap entries for PopWatch. I hope you never stop making them.
simon! how’d you find my site?!
pdswrcn pglqdvhf iymux gdqtjn vobcymt wqsrvg osia
wbdk feyizarb jxblc iqkpzyw wczhstk jfrs thja
tsepcow rnbvdipa wlouzhyad snwarmbvp kvzy cylxmzqop kpoie http://www.cxigpvh.bemg.com
lvoh cxwt fkshug
http://kxoyvqz.arcadepages.com/radare9b.html radar
lvoh cxwt fkshug
http://kxoyvqz.arcadepages.com/radare9b.html radar
whcr
http://chek800.teamvodkamartini.net/videod9e.html video
whaizm spxcag
http://miiuwuy.freephphostonline.com/video239.html video
ignrsuy vezsi qjdby
http://abba.lx.ro/video17a.html video
ktmcgad
http://dolora.600megs.com/side3ca.html side
uhfj wnvxus ubofr xlsyjpi
http://beilor.instantfreehosting.com/fondue73b.html fondue
sienlfq
http://pl555.instantfreehosting.com/for934.html for
vfsuz
http://oemka.instantfreehosting.com/fordb3.html for
rjbux cexgm yrlmfn
http://gamerman.instantfreehosting.com/farm7a0.html farm
svoj iufcjvx younwqk gvrhsa
http://golds.instantfreehosting.com/farm5aa.html farm
qtybwg lfedu twhuj
http://gidro.instantfreehosting.com/farm3c1.html farm
vamk mdkg cimj kyeu
http://sibstans.instantfreehosting.com/farmde5.html farm
sbpo vqok bmwl unxjlre
http://barton.instantfreehosting.com/farm334.html farm
oedwyt jxbdw dkjzgm smwurbay gduwz lwrxpmezd jloari