T.I. – Paper Trail

Genre – Rap/Hip Hop

Label – Grand Hustle/Atlantic

Quick Take: Buy yourself some new woofers.

Get it if: You can’t get enough hook heavy, highly polished rap.

Don’t get it if: Your music collection is already crunked up with beats from the A-T-L.

T.I. does more than just get by with a little help from his friends, which he has plenty of. This album features (no pun intended) an all-star lineup of cameos, including but not limited to the likes of Ludacris, Rihanna and Justin Timberlake. On the back end of things, I lost count at 13 for the number of producers on the album. As could probably be predicted, there is no shortage of great hi-hat and synth heavy beats which often leave a hook in your head. (This reviewer has no comment about walking around humming Numa Numa after that melody was sampled and riffed on in Live Your Life)

On T.I.’s sixth offering, his lyrics cover typical rap ground and he seems to draw often on his recent legal trouble. And make no mistake, T.I. loves Patrón. Now, I’m not looking for T.I. to do a 180 and get all Chuck D on us, and in the end it doesn’t matter too much because his delivery makes up for any lack of depth of his lyrical content.

Although the album starts a little stronger than it finishes, it is still an enjoyable ride, given you have the proper system. Paper Trail put the beatdown on my stock iPod earbuds, but through my studio reference monitors, it was almost a life-changing experience. Now, if my neighbors aren’t too pissed, I’m going to have my wife put on some hotpants, grab a bottle of Patrón and listen to this again.

Note: This review is based on the 16 album tracks. There are 2 iTunes bonus tracks available additionally.

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