T.I. (@Tip)
F*ck Da City Up
I pride myself in being perfectly honest in my reviews; I try to be as transparent as possible and I will always let you know if I have any personal feelings/opinions about the artist being reviewed. With all that being said, here's what I've always said about T.I. (the “King of the South” depending on who you ask): he's the South's version of Nas. No two rappers, in the 27 yrs that I've been listening to rap/hip hop, have frustrated me more than the two aforementioned rappers. T.I. & Nas have indisputable, Top 5 G.O.A.T talent, but the results haven't matched it. They've been passed by peers that are not even on their talent level (Nas by Busta Rhymes, T.I by Rick Ross). So anyway, after his latest (and hopefully last) stint in federal custody, T.I drops his mixtape titled “F*ck Da City Up”.
Well let me start off by saying that once again, much like Ludacris and Ms. Bhavin, this is a mixtape in name only: 16 new releases, no freestyles. So since its an album, I'll judge it as an album: this is T.I.'s best album. Yes, even better than I'm Serious. There is something on this cd for everybody, and that hasn't every really been the case (maybe “Paper Trail” but that's it). I know that's a blasphemous statement, especially in the ATL, so please allow me to elaborate.
Much like a well written opera or concerto, this album has two distinct movements: the past and the future. If you have the cd, the past are the tracks before “Jeezy Speaks (Interlude)”, and the future are the tracks after that. I'm not sure if T.I planned or was aware of this clear delineation in his music (I have to believe that he did), but it was a damn stroke of genius. He has all the songs that pay homage to his hood/trap upbringing at the first half of the album (the T.I that we all know, which is the one that always frustrates me), then he pretty much placed all of his non-hood (mainstream) tracks on the second half of the album (featuring tracks produced by Just Blaze, Manny Fresh, DJ Toomp and Dr. Dre). Trap boyz and hood niccas probably found this part of the cd boring (or even lame). I vehemently disagree with those ascertions. T.I, on the second half of this album, became the rapper I'd only got glimpses of in the past. He's finally achieved the ability to balance the hood, and the whole world (local rappers that wanna be more than local/regional, please take note).
Best Song On The CD: “Pimp”, “Hot Wheels”, “Popped Off”
Song I Enjoyed The Most: “Pimp”, “I'll Show You”
Overall Rating: 5...this is T.I.'s magnum opus (great work), though my hood homies will probably disagree
Rating System:
1—Recycle Bin
2—Could've Been
3—Aight
4—Tiiiiiiiite
5—Ri-DAMN-diculous
Reviewed by DJ KontraDikshun (@KlubKD)
