albums and tracks

Rapper T.I.'s arrest over gun charges in 2007 was never going to destroy the self-proclaimed King of the South's cocky swagger. Instead, it's resulted in a noble sixth album which is in some parts remorseful but mainly business as usual, making the most out of a bad situation to produce some of his best work to date.

Written entirely on paper during his house arrest, Paper Trail bristles with the thirst of a newborn MC, relishing his comeback with the help of fellow r'n'b and hip-hop royals. Ludacris and BoB represent all that's good and Southern on the synth-heavy 'On Top of the World', Rihanna's a pretty addition to the storming 'Live Your Life' and Usher leads a triumphant chorus on 'My Life Your Entertainment'.
 
Then there's the red-carpet arrival of Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne who trade boasts with the rapper on the club-ready 'Swagga Like Us'. But it's T.I. himself who carries Paper Trail to a glorious pinnacle of near perfection, with his formidable form of wordplay and the album's grand production.
 
T.I. falters when he's ticking the pop box for fans who bought into him when he went Hollywood, but never falls off completely. If anything, his energy shines too hard to stumble on this varied album, and when he declares on 'I'm Illy':  "I can fall back seven years, and still no one would be ahead of me", it's clear his legal woes, beefs or commercial pitfalls will hardly knock him off the top.

Matilda Egere-Cooper