T.I. and T.I. Jr., together at last!
[Video][Website]
[6.40]
Brad Shoup: “Big banks, no whammies”: I guess they get GSN in prison. A taut gem of a comeback; thank God he doesn’t have lessons to impart.
[7]
Alfred Soto: It would be enough for me to award him a comeback award by virtue of showing up on a decent track; luckily he puts his long vowels and motormouth at the service of a… well, yeah, I guess it is a comeback song after all. Turns out he’s learned humility in prison — calls himself “stupid” and everything!
[6]
Hazel Robinson: “Country Shit” was immense, so I had reasonably high hopes for this — it’s certainly had everything thrown at it, from that opening riff sample to the ludicrous, gothic piano under the verses and the tick-and-ting chorus. I might be allowing too much for the fact I’m desperate for T.I. to make some decent music again but this is great; threatening, overcocked and show-offy, a song that refuses to put itself down a difficulty level on Guitar Hero even though it’s too drunk to remember more than the opening phrase.
[8]
Katherine St Asaph: T.I. must still be under probation terms that mandate regular check-ins with whatever musty decade the guitar riff came from. It’s the only reason he’d let it sully such an otherwise-sinuous track.
[6]
Jonathan Bradley: It’s easy to mistake this as proficient just because it reads as street shit: that is, rap-heavy and hook-light. And cool, cool; I’m glad Tip’s latest celebration of freedom eschews the stadium melodrama of “Dead and Gone” in favor of his trap music bread and butter. But this isn’t Trap Muzik; it lacks his best work’s precision and personality. T.I. could always flow, but he used to squeeze so much more from that base talent.
[5]