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T. I. ALBUM REVIEW: URBAN LEGEND

“I came, I saw, I conquered with no big names, no fame, no celebrity sponsors...Just game and a flow that was bomb..” - T.I., “Tha King”.

The self proclaimed “King of the South” is back with a new bag of tricks with his newest album URBAN LEGEND. Now while we all know Ludacris is the true “King of the South”, T.I. does have something in common with Luda. They both made their names on the strength of their skillz and not because they were down with G-Unit or because they were down with Rocafella Records. Ironically the first time I even heard of T.I. was on a NY mix tape about 4 years ago. I didn’t pay attention to him though because it seemed like the record label was trying too hard to get his name out there at all costs even if it meant trying to force feed NY on his style. But T.I.’s style is not exactly made to blow up in NY first. He’s born and bred in Atlanta hailing from the infamous Bankhead neighborhood so naturally he’s Southern influenced and his appeal will be more to the South, Midwest, and Northwest (Oakland/San Fran/Seattle). Then maybe the West Coast and Texas (No Texas isn’t the South..It’s Texas..Trust Benz0 on this one) will catch on with NY always being the last in line to catch on to new innovative flavor. But all three latter regions ARE IN THEIR OWN WORLD anyway and FIERCELY loyal to artists that grew up in their region. But I digress... So with T.I. you know he’s Southern influenced and who his target audience will be but there was just something missing with his whole approach last time out. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first but then I realized it’s because his style is so laid back and non-gimmicky that his skill gets overlooked by most of the hiphop nation save those club heads who paid attention to his song “24’s” which was a true ride out song that ruled the South and Midwest for a while. So showing he’s no dummy, T.I. set out this time to increase his exposure to the hiphop nation by enlisting a slew of All-Star producers and also partnering up with some of hiphop’s glitziest and grittiest artists. So let’s find out how he did this time around…

Of course these days any album trying to seriously sell and get noticed better have a lead single that’s gonna get either mad club play or mad radio play (sad but true). So T.I. smartly released the Swizz Beatz produced “Bring Em Out” that is one of the many songs nowadays using Jay-Z’s voice in the chorus to enhance the song. Song is cool and has the played out yet somehow still infectiously catchy one simple beat arrangement that Swizz Beatz uses for every song but the real banger is the DJ Toomp produced “U Don’t Know Me”. I can’t get enough of that song and it’s the closest to “24’s” that you’re gonna find. But backing those 2 songs up are “Get Ya S&&& Together” featuring the recently indicted Lil Kim (Obstruction of Justice) and “Get Loose” featuring Nelly. Honestly those 4 songs are so catchy that if T.I.’s record company plays its cards right those alone should be enough to drive the album to at least platinum status considering they are backed up by numerous solid cuts that aren’t even club singles that I’m about to report on.

So as you delve into the album you start to see that the many collaborations on this album are what’s gonna push this into the “MUST HAVE” category. The Lil Kim and Nelly collabs were cool but things get taken to the next level in “Stand Up” featuring Trick Daddy, Lil Jon and Lil Wayne (DAYUM!!), “Limelight” featuring P$C and Big Kuntry, “What They Do” featuring B.G. (one of my favs!), “The Greatest” featuring Mannie Fresh and “My Life” surprisingly featuring Daz Dillinger. And just to make sure he kills the competition dead he even collabs with Pharrell on “Freak Though” and collabs with Jazze Pha on “Chillin With My B****”. Out of all the collaborations I’d have to say “Limelight” and “Stand Up” steal the show. But “The Greatest” probably brings the best line on the album when T.I. spits “I got [girls] that pull [girls] like they’re one of the crew, now a bunch of broads in the back bustin loose…I got a beautiful [chic] pursuing your chic next thing you know you’re losing your [chic]..” (Church!, Church!..Preach T.I.!!.Yeah once again I love artists that roll like Benz0!!).

Heck I ain’t even mention almost my favorite song on the whole album which is “Tha King” that is kind of a remake of RUN D.M.C’s “King of Rock” and also puts a spin on things as very rarely do rap CDs nowadays have Track #1 being a full length song. Another hot non-collab song of note is “ASAP”. So out of the total 17 tracks that ALL happen to be full length (Nope no stupid skits to be found on this album) there are only 3 songs that while solid I’d probably skip (with one of them being the Pharrell song) but you know Benz0’s aversion to anything that is a bit too smooth. That leaves 14 solid songs that aren’t fillers with about 6 or 7 of them bordering on the “dayum that’s great” side. Can’t ask for more than that and after further review I deem this a definite MUST HAVE for the cultured hiphop fan that can appreciate good music without first having to find out who the artist is affiliated with or what city they represent. This is what I call a “sleeper” album. It’s easy to overlook but once you dig into it you’ll find yourself loving it more and more until you proclaim it’s one of the best out.

Benz0
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