After a killer first half, Paper Trail starts to falter. T.I.'s anguished, heart-on-the-sleeve introspection starts to feel a little rote, but he rebounds with "Swagga Like Us," a star-studded collaboration with Kanye West, Lil Wayne, and Jay-Z.
Even with the burden of sloppy crossover tracks, Paper Trail has enough standout moments for T.I.’s throne to remain secure for now.
Even with distractions ranging from legal woes to petty and childish territorial “beef,” T.I. has managed to craft an album that gives listeners the standout moments they expect from the Bankhead star. Paper Trail’s achievements are enough to remind fans why they fell in love with T.I. back in 2003, and keep his tenuous title as “King of the South” in place for the immediate future.
There is a sense of urgency and a new dimension of self-reflection not touched upon throughout the holding pattern that was T.I. vs T.I.P.
Consistent with his resume, Paper Trail is a premium effort with only a few missteps but many bright spots. Though it may have been a rough year, one that saw him face the unpleasant, unsympathetic waves of life, one can’t ignore the outcome. Skillful, indeed.
This is still, despite these soul-bearing tracks, a T.I. record, and the inability to establish a consistent persona—that same facelessness which he attempted to treat as charisma on 2007’s confusing T.I. vs T.I.P.—remains.
Paper Trail more often succeeds when the positivity sounds more earned than court-ordered.
While rap's other blue-chip brands watch their stock prices plummet, Clifford Harris continues to beat the market. Paper Trail is his third album in succession to outsell its rivals.
This album is interesting as it uses T.I.’s three different personas so much, which is great, but that has led to the album being all over the place, whether it’s T.I. writing some of his deepest songs reflecting on his life, massive hits, or some of T.I.'s hardest and best rapping performances. Which is probably why I personally get more enjoyment from his previous album "T.I. Vs. T.I.P." because it wasn’t as messy. Yet with that being said, compared to his previous ... read more
Paper Trail can be described as an album of trios in its 16 track list that deftly comprises three personas of TIP , TI and Clifford . You can literally take three songs such as the first three songs and one persona is performing the three and so on and so forth . It’s honestly a genius rap album and I find it so highly underrated.
It really is one of my fave hip hop albums. What makes a great hip hop album is luxuriant hefty beats , crazy clever rhymes and an ethos that communicates a ... read more
Kinda regretting listening to this, really warped my perception on TI, but good thing this isn’t his best work so imma block this from my head for now
Unadulterated pure pop rap goodness. Sure some of the singles teeter in and out of corny territory, but T.I. surrounds them with enough of what made his several of his earlier albums memorable to make it worth checking out.
1 | 56 Bars (Intro) 3:04 | 85 |
2 | I'm Illy 4:06 | 84 |
3 | Ready for Whatever 5:12 | 83 |
4 | On Top of the World 5:00 | 81 |
5 | Live Your Life 5:38 feat. Rihanna | 93 |
6 | Whatever You Like 4:09 | 90 |
7 | No Matter What 5:15 | 84 |
8 | My Life Your Entertainment 4:56 feat. Usher | 79 |
9 | Porn Star 3:31 | 67 |
10 | Swing Ya Rag 3:18 feat. Swizz Beatz | 73 |
11 | What Up, What's Haapnin'? 5:01 | 73 |
12 | Every Chance I Get 4:49 | 78 |
13 | Swagga Like Us 5:27 | 91 |
14 | Slide Show 3:42 feat. John Legend | 78 |
15 | You Ain't Missin' Nothing 5:10 | 76 |
16 | Dead and Gone 4:59 feat. Justin Timberlake | 92 |
#77 | / | Consequence of Sound |