Saturday, June 23

T.I. vs. T.I.P. Album Ringtones

T.I. has released ringtones/snippets of every track on his upcoming album on his website. The ringtones cost $2.49 each, but all the tracks have audio available- which you can use as a sampler to decide whether or not you wish to purchase the full album on July 3rd. You can find them here:

http://ringtones.trapmuzik.com/

My favorite tracks, based off the snippets are:

"Big Things Poppin'"
"Raw"
"Respect This Hustle"
"My Swag"
"Help Is Coming"
"Hurt"
"Touchdown"
"We Do This"

The album hasn't lived up to my expectations after King and the first single. I was expecting T.I. to really go hard and make this his "classic". Instead, T.I. has gone as commercial as possible, and really only half-delivered. There are certain standout tracks, and the album contains generally top-notch production, but T.I. falls short of becoming "The King of South" through lazy flows and under-average lyricism. I'd recommend you buy your favorites off of iTunes, and save yourself the extra cash, time, and headache.

Friday, June 22

Papoose- Bang It Out featuring Snoop Dogg

Papoose's first single off his upcoming album, "Nacirema Dream", has just been released. The track has a hard beat courtesy of Scott Storch, and both Papoose and Snoop murder it. Snoop's verse is the best I've heard from him in a minute, and he may even outshine Papoose. This is a strong single to begin with, because although it isn't very catchy or a sure radio hit, it shows that Papoose isn't selling out. The track will gain mainstream appeal, while it still is a street record and Papoose sounds just as hard as ever.
http://www.zshare.net/audio/23889144dd9a13/

50 Cent- Follow My Lead w/ Robin Thicke Live

A new video has surfaced of 50 Cent and Robin Thicke performing the song "Follow My Lead" off 50's new album Curtis, at the L.A. House of Blues. The song will likely be a single off of Curtis, and many are calling it Curtis' "21 Questions".
You can find the video here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeaqMLcU5J4

The music from the performance was recorded, and thus, we now have a live audio of the song. You can find the track here:
http://www.zshare.net/audio/23179608b582e8/

T.I. vs. T.I.P. Leaks

Several of tracks scheduled to be on T.I.'s upcoming release "T.I. vs. T.I.P" have leaked in the past few days. No comments have been released from T.I. or his management regarding this. The album is due out July 3.

Watch What You Say featuring Jay-Z
http://www.zshare.net/audio/23802659c4c41d/

The whole vibe of the song is pretty soft. The beat has a little bit of a bounce, but it's a slow trance-like beat. T.I. adds his usual swag chorus, but it doesn't sound quite as enjoyable here. However, after Jay steps in the track becomes a little better. Jay delivers a great verse, and he goes hard regardless of the beat. This is one of the best guest spots Jay's given this year, and as a result of his verse, T.I. steps it up a little on the third verse. Not as great as you'd expect coming from these two, but not a bad song.

Respect This Hustle
http://www.zshare.net/audio/23895975289331/

This song is a little more up-tempo. It was produced by Timbo's protége Danja. This is one of the tracks that TI classifies as both TI and TIP going at it together, and that is understood from the beginning as it opens with the two of them arguing. The chorus is catchy, and along with the nice feel the beat provides T.I. (and T.I.P.) sounds good. His swag-rhymes are on-point with the production, and I found the track very enjoyable up until they start arguing again for the remainder of the track. This track was refreshing, as it encourages me that as long as T.I. has solid production he doesn't get old as quick as you'd expect.

Help Is Coming
http://www.zshare.net/audio/2370773fa7f03f/

The final track that has leaked is a 1:35 minute snippet. Just Blaze's production is great, and it very successfully gets T.I. hyped enough to make the track a hot one. The track is T.I.'s response to the current state of hip hop, as the chorus includes lines such as "they say the game in trouble/help on the way" and "say hello to the man who can save hip hop". T.I. has a very quick flow on this track, but it works well with the speed of the production. You only get to hear his first verse, but I'm sure this track will be a hit.