exclamation points
daily dos
thu 5/14/2009
As he prepares to serve time for gun charges, T.I. tells his fans "Don't Forget" in a new track featuring Mary J. Blige.
on lock
daily dos
thu 2/19/2009
Listen to "Topless," a leaked track by Dr. Dre featuring Nas and T.I.
ballots and bailouts
daily dos
thu 10/30/2008
Atlanta rapper T.I. voted early, despite being a convicted felon. Check out his new video, "Live Your Life," featuring Rihanna. (via RealTalk NY)
on thin ice
daily dos
fri 10/17/2008
Remember that record that T.I. broke last week? Britney Spears broke it this week.
Nelly, Pussycat Dolls, T.I., Gym Class Heroes and Jazmine Sullivan
the music press
mon 10/13/2008
- After a four-year hiatus, St. Louis rapper Nelly delivers his fifth album, Brass Knuckles. The Village Voice says he's playing second fiddle to his guests, "many of whom, uncomfortably enough, have eclipsed their host in the public consciousness (Fergie, Rick Ross)." The Boston Globe thinks he waited too long: "Four years is a long time to be gone. The market he had essentially cornered since 2000 was in middle school the last time he released a record."
- Girl-power pop combo Pussycat Dolls deliver their sophomore effort, Doll Domination, a "collection of electro-pop songs that are the opposite of sex: belligerent come-ons and odes to singledom stripped of pleasure, adventure or anything resembling fun," according to the Los Angeles Times. "After the inexplicable 'failure' of Nicole's solo album … it was smart to spotlight the, uh, talents of the other pussycats this go 'round," observes Slant Magazine.
- Atlanta's T.I. drops Paper Trail, an album in which he "mostly dispenses with the Tupac-wannabe gangsta-confessor pretensions to deliver catchy, tight, bombastic pop-rap," according to Rolling Stone. T.I. finds the "perfect balance of comedy and tragedy, swagger and humble attitude, pop music and hardcore hip-hop," and "[lives] up to the nickname 'Jay-Z of the South' in a big way," gushes webzine Rap Reviews.
- New York rap-rockers Gym Class Heroes return with their fourth album, The Quilt, a "misguided effort to be taken seriously as a hip-hop band," according to Entertainment Weekly. "It's the kind of benign mall music that's likely to be played ad nauseam at trendy chains like Wet Seal and Forever 21 while tweens shop for colored denim and leggings." Spin magazine agrees: "These dudes … are the Black Eyed Peas of the Warped tour set."
- R&B newcomer Jazmine Sullivan flexes her songwriting skills on her debut, Fearless, an album "just two songs shy of being a benchmark classic in the annals of music history," proclaims Soul Tracks. "Sullivan may be just 21, but the singer-songwriter proves herself a veteran in the game of love," declares Billboard.com. Sullivan's vocals are "perfection," raves Vibe magazine.
abandon with abandon
daily dos
fri 10/10/2008
T.I.'s Paper Trail debuts at number one on the Billboard 100.
super friends
daily dos
wed 9/3/2008
Listen to "Swagger Like Us," a new song by T.I. featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne.
The Game vs. T.I.
versus
tue 9/2/2008
| name | Jayceon Terrell Taylor. | Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. |
| hometown | Los Angeles, California. | Atlanta, Georgia. |
| birthdate | November 29, 1979. | September 25, 1980. |
| style | West Coast hip hop. | Southern hip hop. |
| also known as | Hurricane Game, Murda Game and Chuck Taylor. | T.I.P., Rubberband Man and King of the South. |
| got nickname from | His grandmother. | His grandfather. |
| powered by | Dr. Dre. | L.A. Reid. |
| signature look | Fitted hat, tank top and Converse All-Stars. | Sunglasses, slick jacket and dog tags. |
| debut album | The Documentary (2005). | I'm Serious (2001). |
| killer collab | Hate It Or Love It with 50 Cent. | What's Yo Name with Pharrell. |
| as seen in | Street Kings. | American Gangster. |
| beef | Rivalries with Death Row Records, Roc-A-Fella Records and 50 Cent. | Dissed Lil' Flip, Shawty Lo, 50 Cent and punched Ludacris' manager. |
| legal troubles | Charged with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct. | Under house arrest for posession of illegal firearms (machine guns). |
| most recent release | LAX. | Paper Trail. |
| the critics | Hip Hop DX: "The Game is 50 Cent. He's Tupac, Biggie, Jay-Z, Nas, or Jadakiss. He's the gangsta rapper of right NOW for a generation that demands its own ghetto soldier, someone who has lived a life to which they can escape." |
Rolling Stone: "T.I. rhymes about the perks and pains of megastardom, and flashes Glocks in order to remind us he's still street, all the while darkening and amping up his sound with a king's ransom of keyboard-driven bangers." |
| webprops | 685,099 friends on official MySpace. | 2,066,292 friends on official MySpace. |
| best video moment | Living the hard life with Lil Wayne in My Life. | Offering the world to a girl in Whatever You Like. |
"RiCkY" Says:
