Paper Trail

T.I. - Paper Trail
Critic Score
Based on 14 reviews
2008 Ratings: #452 / 806
User Score
Based on 157 ratings
2008 Rank: #177
Liked by 17 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

83
A.V. Club

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.

83
Entertainment Weekly
Despite his often earnest lyrics, the radio-friendly party anthems, flirty come-ons, collaborations with A-list pals (Rihanna, Jay-Z, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Justin Timberlake), and outstanding production prove this beleaguered bad boy still knows how to have a good time.
75
Paste

Even with the burden of sloppy crossover tracks, Paper Trail has enough standout moments for T.I.’s throne to remain secure for now.

75
AllHipHop

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.

70
AllMusic

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.

70
HipHopDX

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.

70
Sputnikmusic
Changing up his themes, updating his beats and extending his style far enough to keep his listeners interested, he still has yet to release an extremely refined classic.
67
Coke Machine Glow

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.

62
Pitchfork

Paper Trail more often succeeds when the positivity sounds more earned than court-ordered.

60
Rolling Stone
T.I. is still a bit too keen to remake his signature hit "What You Know," but songs like the clever "I'm Illy" and the Just Blaze-produced stomper "Live Your Life" find T.I. reconciling himself to his lot in life: he's a well-oiled hit machine who's more fun than deep.
60
Slant Magazine
Could it be that psychological complexity in rappers has become another tired cliché?
60
The Guardian

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.

Joooosh
87

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

LilBIsGod
85

This is such a product of its time it’s amazing

nfabjoy
81

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

RoyaalFlush
47

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

ryanoak
70

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.

cjbitw
70

solid

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