Review Summary: Magnum T.I.
T.I. has always been a prime example of an excellent mainstream rapper from the south. He exudes confidence with every single breath he breaths over the microphone, swinging comfortably from snare hit to snare hit like Tarzan of the beats. However, whether it’s Ludacris, Rick Ross, or T.I., the problems are all the same. T.I. has no idea at all how to balance an album together. At least he didn’t until he went towards recording
King, an album whose title obviously aims towards magnum opus, a record that balances T.I.’s softer side done right with effortless gruff confidence placed on balling records. Basically,
King shows T.I. ripping to his full potential.
With women, he’s evolved into this sort of country gentlemen, and he shows this over swelling, swollen synthesizers that make his softer side truly something to behold. And yet, it seems like what the real shine still are the bangers. Throughout the first couple of tracks, we get brassed-out Just Blaze instrumentals at their very best; we get a collaboration with UGK, the woozy synths of banging hit “What You Know”, and the menacing backward bounce of “I’m Talkin to You”, and on each one T.I. shows his flowing dexterity. The highlight of the entire record, surprisingly, might be Swizz Beatz contribution in “Get It”, a hot, jumbled horn mess served to T.I. in perfect condition for him to rip it up.
Even the weak tracks sound strong due to T.I.’s superfluous confidence. Normally, records like this just sound like wastes of good beats (Rick Ross, I’m lookin at you tubby), but T.I. serves these beats with pure swag and rhythmic ability. He doesn’t even need to rhyme about anything important or relevant, he’s got enough fun punchlines and self-confidence to cover that up. T.I. manages to spend the entire record outshining every single guest, making every beat his own, and even being respectful to the ladies as opposed to misogynistic. Overall, a triumph.
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