T.I. - T.I. vs. T.I.P.

Firstly a little background about T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. (born September 25, 1980), better known by his stage name T.I., and also by his alter ego T.I.P., is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, record, philanthropist and executive producer as well as the Co-CEO of Grand Hustle Records.

How's that for an introduction, courtesy of Wikipedia. Anyway, now that's out of the way it's time to get down to bid'ness.

T.I. vs T.I.P. is essentially a documentary of the battle inside him between his two egos and is his latest album. Featuring 18 pretty heavy weight tracks 3 of which have been released as singles, it gives a good taste of modern Southern hip hop... big beats, simple rhyming styles and plenty of attitude. As my synopsis suggests it is a pretty decent attempt but that's about it. It kind of fades away half way through which is a bit of an anticlimax when you consider the tracks that the album opens up with; Big Things Poppin' which is probably the anthem track on the album, Act II: T.I. which has an awesome beat that you'd recognise from some of the best tracks ever released from the Dirty South (think Three 6 Mafia).

After midway it's basically a free for all with each track not really flowing off it's former. It's a bit disjointed to be honest, but really when you're buying this album you're not really meant to be buying a story. In saying that thoug the second half is definitely the more aggressive side to the album.

It's a kind of expendable album in that you can pick and choose a few tracks on it that you'll listen to while skipping all the rest without really worrying about it or feeling guilty. It seems to be a trend given the current state of American hip hop. Tracks list Tell 'Em I Said That, Respect This Hustle, Hurt and My Swag are the tracks that make up my playlist from this album.

I'm actually quite confused about this album. You can probably tell due to the fact that this review itself is infact quite fragmented in opinion. Sometimes I think its good, other times it's only decent. I can't quite put my finger on it. I bought the album in the hope that it'd reignite my interest in US hip hop and I guess that was probably the wrong reason for buying it because to be honest I'm still listening to more electronica than I ever have so in that respect it has failed... but at the other it's given me a different perspective on Southern hip hop. If you're tired of Outkast, Three 6 Mafia, Slimm Cutta Calhoun and all the others then it might be worth giving T.I. a bit of time.

Oh, and did I mention Eminem features on Touchdown and he's fucking whack. Probably best he retires properly.

Track Listing

1. Act I: T.I.P.
2. Big Things Poppin' (Do It)
3. Raw
4. You Know What It Is
5. Dopeman
6. Watch What You Say to Me - Jay-Z, , , , T.I., T.I.P.
7. Hurt - Alfamega, Busta Rhymes, , , T.I., T.I.P.
8. Act II: T.I.
9. Help Is Coming
10. My Swag - Wyclef Jean, , , T.I., T.I.P.
11. We Do This
12. Show It to Me - Nelly, , , T.I., T.I.P.
13. Don't You Wann Be High
14. Touchdown - Eminem, , , T.I., T.I.P.
15. Act III: T.I. vs T.I.P. the Confrontation
16. Tell 'Em I Said That
17. Respect This Hustle
18. My Type