T.I. - T.I. vs. TIP Album Review

4 Ninjastars out of Five

For those of you just getting acquainted with T.I. after “What You Know” or his scene-stealing verse on Justin Timberlake’s “My Love”, T.I. the rapper has an alter-ego T.I.P. the hustler that keeps him street credible but keeps getting him in trouble (just check his rap sheet). The thing that makes T.I appealing to both the “new old school” (Nas, Pac, B.I.G fans) and the pop-hop fans of today is that he bridges the gap between the two by combining a groovable flow with lyricism that’s respected by the old-school. Although hard-core T.I. fans will be debating whether with T.I vs T.I.P he has finally surpassed his classic second album Trap Muzik one thing that’s for sure is that the self-proclaimed King of the South gets top-notch beats. Always anthemic and never sounding like everything else in rap it’s the beats and song structure that carry this album when T.I doesn’t bring his “A” game. This is never more apparent than on the cuts featuring some of raps finest (Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Nelly, Eminem) where he gets outshined by all of them except surprisingly Eminem (up to here undefeated in posse cuts) who seems more concerned with making a party cut than bringing the wow-did-he-just-say-that factor we all love him for. The album is divided into three parts:

Part I for T.I.P

Part two for T.I. and

Part III for confrontations between the two.

It’s a damn good concept but one of the things that makes T.I. at times great is the combination of the two which we only get on four songs including one in which on the funniest part of the record he calls himself a “hoe-ass rapper.” The other type of song which T.I. excels at is the song for the ladies (if you haven’t heard “Let’s Get Away” give it a listen). This is again the case with songs like “My Swag” and “Do You Wanna Be High.” Sure to be blasted all summer by the hard, and those who either think or wish they were, T.I. vs. T.I.P is a damn good record especially if you’re a rap fan but Outkast’s still King of the South.