Brendt Harris GUEST WRITER

Street Date: September 30, 2008
Label: Grand Hustle/Atlantic

"Paper Trail" is the sixth studio album of Atlanta-born rapper T.I. The album was originally supposed to drop on August 12, 2008, but was pushed back multiple times, ultimately landing on September 30. T.I. began recording for this album while under house arrest on pending gun charges in November of 2007. T.I. has subsequently plead guilty and been sentenced to a year in jail following 1,000 hours of court-mandated community service. It has been rumored that T.I. recorded about 50 songs during the production of "Paper Trail," and 16 of them made the cut. Let's go ahead and take a look-see at what the self-proclaimed "King" has to offer...

56 Barz (Intro)
T.I. starts the album off on a good note, spittin' some lyrical gold without a hook. 4/5

I'm Illy
The track is hot. It looks like the "King" is back. 4/5

Ready for Whatever
This is T.I.'s track to respond to his current legal troubles that will ultimately land him in jail. At the end he explains himself a little bit, capping a semi-inspirational track. 4/5

On Top of the World (feat. Ludacris & B.O.B.)
This is just a GOOD track. The beat is fire, and Luda always brings the thunder. You will probably hear me banging this driving down the road. 5/5
T.I. - On Top of the World (ft. Ludacris & B.O.B.).mp3

Live Your Life (feat. Rihanna)
The track started, and I was seriously like, "WTF, mate?" Whoops, wrong internet sensation. T.I. bites the Numa Numa riff on this one, and I almost wrote it off from the beginning. But as it kept playing, it kinda grew on me. It may be just because I was picturing Rihanna in my mind though… 3/5
T.I. - Live Your Life (ft. Rihanna).mp3

Whatever You Like
Wow, T.I. can actually carry a tune. We didn't even need to give him a bucket to carry it in. That being said, at the end of the day, he's still singing. At least he didn't use the Auto-Tune. 3/5

No Matter What
I like the organ and the synth use for this track. Slowing it down every now and again can be successful. Tough, lyrical track. 4/5

My Life, Your Entertainment (feat. Usher)
I really want to like this song. But I wouldn't be able to respect myself. Just because the synth worked in the last track doesn't mean you can throw it in everywhere, Cliff. And I feel like this song is a vast under-utilization of Usher, even though his verse is decent. 2/5

Porn Star
This is a good example of T.I. stepping his game up. It's a little different type of delivery from T.I., but he still has the same quality lyrics you're accustomed to. 4/5

Swing Ya Rag (feat. Swizz Beatz)
Classic T.I., fresh beats, solid track. 'Nuff Said. Closest thing to a club-banger on the album. 5/5

What Up, What's Haapnin
The title of this track SHOULD have been "What the Hell Happened?" There's just nothing special about this track, at all. T.I. recorded about 50 tracks in preparation for "Paper Trail." This one should have been lost in the shuffle. 1/5

Every Chance I Get
T.I. picks up the pieces with this flow. More of what we've come to expect from T.I. 4/5

Swagga Like Us (feat. Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil' Wayne)
Hot beat using the "Paper Planes" sample. Thank Kanye for the beat, but not for his verse; I feel like a 7th grader could have written it. And he's officially jumped on the Auto-Tune Bandwagon. This is bad news bears for hip hop. Hov's verse is hot, but following Kanye's, that wouldn't have been hard to do. Weezy F. Baby's got the Auto-Tune too, but at least he's still spittin' lyrical fire. But T.I. killed the track, hands down. Lyrically, no one else was on his level. 4/5, only because of 'Ye's abysmal performance.

Slide Show (feat. John Legend)
John Legend, ladies and gentlemen. You can't really go wrong with putting him on the hook with his piano in the background. T.I.'s good too, I guess. 4/5

You Ain't Missin' Nothing
The Spanish guitar and sax make the track. I had to listen to this again because the first time through, I forgot T.I. was flowing. I'm gunna find the instrumental of this song and put that in my rotation. 6/5 for the instrumentation, 3/5 for T.I.
T.I. - You Ain't Missin' Nothing.mp3

Dead and Gone (feat. Justin Timberlake)
Very good choice to close out the album. JT on the production, which I have to give him props for; the beat is wassup. T.I. is just so much better on the fast flow, as evidenced by this track. 5/5

All in all, it's a pretty decent album. T.I. takes some risks on this album, and some of them work out for him. On some of the others, someone should have had the balls to just say no. Then again, you can't change the game up if you aren't willing to change yourself. If this is what comes out after going on house arrest, I can't wait to hear what's coming when he gets out of jail.

Overall Album Score: 4/5