Follow this rapper's 'Paper Trail' with caution

By: Matt Goodman

Posted: 9/26/08

Let's take a trip back to 2006; T.I.'s "King" dropped and was an incredible document of how big southern rap could get. And I don't mean that in terms of popularity; T.I. brought the funk-stuffed UGK beats and married them with fist-pumping banger swagger.

For instance, check "What You Know," the best rap song of the decade. "King" showed how large the sound could get, and since then, few have been able to match it.

Then dude brought his audience along in his own silly little identity crisis in the miserable, two-sided "T.I. vs. T.I.P.," an album that was so unfocused that the rapper decided it deserved two sides to allow his listeners to hear him fight between his two personas: unrepentant drug dealer and supposed businessman.

So comes "Paper Trail," hot off getting popped with a gun charge that landed the Atlanta rapper in house arrest, the album tries to marry both styles. It doesn't quite hit the highs in "King," but it shows great progression from his last.

The first three songs are exactly what the man needed: "56 Barz" declares that this is what we've all been waiting for since "What You Know," and he's right. The song is huge as strings build around percussion and dirty synths, and even his left field Weezy biting style is forgivable. It's just nice to hear the man return to the bangers that made him what he is.

"I'm Illy" and "Ready for Whatever" stay in the same style, hitting hard and effectively teasing the audience. Then Ludacris gets involved and changes the tone of the album. "On Top of the World" is endearingly silly, but "Live Your Life" is the most ridiculous rap song I've heard in the last 15 years. Sampling that stupid "Numa Numa Song," a YouTube favorite (you know, where that fat guy lip syncs and dances) is a pathetic tone-killer - why the hell should I take this guy seriously when he gets Rihanna to mirror the same cadence of that trash?

Then we get to the current and potential singles, like "Whatever You Like," and "No Matter What." The Usher feature, "My Life Your Entertainment," and "Porn Star" are straight-trance sex rap, and he does it well, but why start with such vitriol and devolve into this? It's an awkward stretch and slightly frustrating because we all know how vicious and innovative this guy can be.

The album hits another stride toward the end. Swizz Beats bang hard on "Swing Ya Rag," while "What's Up What's Haapnin" and "Every Chance I get" are some of the best tracks on the record - he gets back to that huge sound that he's used to and swings his voice around his trademark synths and head-banging percussion.

Then something special happens in the Kanye West-produced "Swagga Like Us." Sampling M.I.A.'s anthemic "Paper Planes" (too soon?), Kanye, Jay-Z, Lil' Wayne and T.I. slay the track. It stands next to Kanye's best work and proves to be the most interesting track. The end of the album slows a tad with boring John Legend lending his voice to another piano, synth-driven Kanye track in "Slide Show," and Justin Timberlake accents with a solid finish in "Dead and Gone."

"Paper Trail" is a tonally inconsistent album. While the dope money was being pushed across the table in "King," it's being hustled in the background here, and while the synths stabbed in "King," they soothe here. But it shows that T.I. isn't done and he may have another solid rap effort left in him after this.