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The Rotunda
Friday, July 4, 2025

"Private Show" and "Oh Yeah" Showcase T.I.'s New Album

T.I. has somewhat fallen off the map over the last few years. T.I. used to be one of the biggest rappers in the game with his signature Atlanta-based hip-hop style in songs such as “What You Know,” “Top Back,” “Bring Em Out,” and “Rubber Band Man.” His potential had no limit. With the release of 2006’s hit album “King,” T.I. was getting the recognition he deserved through the early years of his career.

Since the release of his 2008 album, “Paper Trail,” he seems to have succumbed to the dreaded lack of originality that much of today’s pop-oriented hip-hop consists of. Since “King,” T.I. has released average-at-best records routinely. 2010’s “No Mercy” was underwhelming to say the least. Though the album featured the likes of Kid Cudi, Eminem, Chris Brown, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West, the lyrics were uninspired and the instrumentals were empty.

“Heavy Man: Heavy is the Head” wasn’t any better. One of the few segments of the album that are even somewhat decent to listen to is “Sorry,” featuring André 3000, and the only part of that song that I end up listening to is 3K’s sick verse towards the song’s twilight. “Heavy Man” had some decent dance floor hits such as “Go Get It” and “Ball,” featuring Lil Wayne, but other than that, there’s nothing much to take away from it.

Unfortunately, T.I.’s new album, “Paperwork,” continues his trend of releasing subpar records. The album’s lead single, “About the Money,” is one of the most unimpressive songs T.I. has released in the last few years, which says a lot, given his poor track record as of late. This song consists of everything that a respectable hip-hop track shouldn’t have. There are random shouts and screams all throughout the song’s background, the lyrics are empty, and the song’s horrible auto-tune is almost painful to listen to. Some people can pull off auto-tune,but T.I. does not, by any means, pull it off on this track, or this album in general.

“No Mediocre,” featuring Iggy Azalea, is one of the better tracks on “Paperwork,” but it’s nearly a copy and pasted version of Iggy’s “Fancy” beat that T.I. just shuffled around to make it sound like a T.I. song. If you listen to the two songs side-by-side, it’s almost eerie how similar they are: same tempo, same rapping style and both songs are nearly the exact same time-length. It’s kind of freaky. I honestly wouldn’t know who wrote the song if the album I bought didn’t have the name “T.I.” written all over it. I certainly hope that T.I. isn’t being influenced by a newcomer like Iggy Azalea because, if that’s the case, he’s looking in the wrong direction.

However, that does not mean that there weren’t any bright spots here. “Private Show,” featuring Chris Brown, is a settled, sexy tune that’s about as smooth as D’Angelo back in his heyday and the Pharrell Williams-featured song, “Oh Yeah,” is ridiculous. This song is just begging to be played at football games when the home team runs out of the tunnel. This is nearly reminiscent of T.I.’s golden days from “King” and “Urban Legend.” It’s just a shame that the rest of “Paperwork” isn’t nearly as good as “Private Show” and “Oh Yeah” are.

T.I. isn’t a bad rapper. If he was, he wouldn’t be getting the recognition he does. But decent artists put out bad albums all the time, and this is one of those cases. “Paperwork” just doesn’t know what it is. One second it will be gangsta rap and then all of a sudden it’s pop. There’s no structure here and this album is about at the same level as “Trouble Man,” which isn’t good. I didn’t expect much from “Paperwork” and, unfortunately, there wasn’t much received.

My rating:       5/10

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