So I’ve been disappointed by TI vs. TIP. Haven’t listened to it for a while, even though there’s heat on it (including blackout verses from Jigga and Busta). It’s not a bad record. It’s just a disappointing one.
Here’s why…I can’t tell the difference between TI and TIP.
More importantly–I can’t tell the difference between this record and any of the others, save for Trap Muzik.
See, Trap Muzik is the real TI vs. TIP. It’s the record with the song “TI vs. TIP,” after all. But it’s also the record that clearly documents the transition he appears to want to make from the young hard head he was and the businessman he is now. Cuts like “Doin’ My Job,” “TI vs. TIP” and “Be Better Than Me” did the job. That album was smart, fresh and interesting. It wasn’t as though pointing out the conflicts that cats like him have was groundbreaking stuff. It was the way he did it, the way he made it seem so easy.
Well, now there’s this record. When I put it on my computer, I changed all the artist tags on the files to “TI.” They were tagged as “TI,” “TIP” and “TI vs. TIP.” I wish I hadn’t done that, though. I can’t tell from listening to this record which songs are the TI songs, the TIP songs, and I sure as hell can’t tell when they’re in conflict.
And you know why? Because Tip didn’t give the concept record I thought I’d get. I just got another TI record. That’s not a bad thing. I’ve liked every record he’s done. I’ve loved three of them.
This one? Not so much. I’d love to give you more specifics, but I don’t feel like listening to the record. Been like that for a couple weeks now.
But you know what’s interesting? If he’d just called the record “5,” “Happy to be Trappy” or anything else, I’d probably be just fine with it. Instead, I tricked myself again. I expected an artistic breakthrough. I’ve been expecting another Trap Muzikhe owes me $25. But don’t get it twisted…he owes me $25.
11 Comments
by Brew City Drew
Yep. That’s pretty much exactly how I feel about it too.
by FredBatiste, A Weapon of Mass Destruction
So should we expect a “Bomani vs. Int’l Baba vs. Luther S. Dawson” entry to the blog soon?
by ETS
Maybe that’s the thing. Maybe T.I. and Tip are one and the same. Maybe he’s trying to say, “hey they AREN’T two different people and that’s okay.” Another artist once said, “I had found that the art of simplicity simply means making peace of your complexity.” Maybe he’s just like, “Eff it. This is me. This is who I am.”
Bo, I’ve tried to find your College Dropout review to no avail. Can you email me the link? Good looking.
by displaced southern girl
and here i thought i just needed to listen to it a few more times.
i thought he’d single-handedly bring back the idea of a concept album.
by LOL
“Happy to be Trappy” I smell a classic
by Brew CIty Drew
I was also really expecting 2 contrasting sounds. Just sayin’.
by Kirk
When you think about it, only a small percentage of musicians ever put out more than 2, maybe 3, really good albums. So, once you finally find something you really like and have high expectations of, you can pretty much forget about liking anything else they ever do.
And “Happy To Be Trappy”? Is that like a cover of RuPaul’s “Happy To Be Tranny”?
by DP
I think the real issue is, that Atlantic doesnt think his market is sophisticated enough to handle a concept project. So they watered it down to sound like the King II and went to the bank and waited.
by ?
Well a good question DP is how does T.I./Tip/The Artist Formerly Known as Clifford Harris strike a balance between staying Trappy and going mainstream? And please don’t say, “The same way Jay Z did.”
by Johnny Jones
I said the same thing (“I can’t tell the difference”) as I let the CD play while driving to New York. I didn’t look at the back of the CD (which noted that the tracks were broken into “acts” separating the alter egos and then combining them in the final act. Great idea, but the final product doesn’t do the marketing scheme justice.
by Jarrett
I’m sure Tip is willing to scrap with you over that $25, too.
Damn shame. All that talent and intellect, he’d rather be an ultimate fighter everywhere he goes.