It’s been two years since T.I has dropped an album. Is “Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head” something to look forward to? Check the review after the jump.
1. The Introduction
The beginning sample of the song creates a smooth vibe, but once the beat drops and T.I. starts rapping, you begin to hear that the song is nothing special. Rapping about hustling, coming from nothing, and failure not being an option; T.I. seems to be continuing from his hit song “Rubber Band Man.” In this track he compares his flow to the art of Da Vinci and Picasso, which is definitely an exaggeration. The beat is typical T.I. and this was a weak way to start off the album.
2. G Season (feat. Meek Mill)
T.I. responds to people’s talk about his wife Tameka “Tiny” Harris in this song. However, some of his punch lines were extremely corny. “B*itches call me Papa John because I keep that extra cheese,” and “Strong as gin and tonic.” LAME. Meek Mill killed his verse though, by switching his flow up. The beat goes hard and was more suited for Meek to be on it…alone.
3. Trap Back Jumpin
The beat makes you bop your head while T.I. is spittin about trap life. “Kilos of coke” talk now is hard to believe though since we all know he no longer does that. Of course he mentions his money and houses, which are things we’re already aware of. This wasn’t a bad track, just predictable.
4. Wildside (feat. A$AP Rocky)
The beginning speaking part was unnecessary and didn’t go with the tempo of the song. Transitional wise, it wasn’t good because you’re expecting to hear a fast paced song afterwards and this track is the complete opposite. A$AP was the star. His quick paced flow contrasted with T.I.’s slow tempo. T.I. raps about what he used to do in his hood and breaks down his teenaged years.
5. Ball (feat. Lil Wayne)
Most of us have heard this already and it is a great track to dance or work out to. Bottles and molly’s are definitely the story of Weezy’s life right now so the chorus is fitting. Lil Wayne’s part can get any girl to twerk, I’m not sure about him being good looking as he says though.
6. Sorry (feat. Andre 3000)
The chorus is really good with the message that you can’t really please everybody. T.I.’s verse was okay, especially the part where he asks if he should be sorry because he was the only one who made it out the hood. However, you shouldn’t say, “switch the flow up,” if you’re not really going to do it. Mr. 3000’s verse was amazing as almost every verse he does. He really opened up, especially about why he left the game for a while. Andre 3000 saved this song from mediocrity. I love his “It’s boring? Boring? Really?” part.
7. Can You Learn (feat. R. Kelly)
The art of having speaking scenes on an album is very hard to do. It can either be genius or out of place. In the case of the beginning of this song, it was very out of place and fake sounding. Once the song starts though, T.I. redeems himself with the help of still great R. Kelly. T.I. talks about wanting to change while R. Kelly smoothly sings, “Could you learn to love a trouble man?” The song is very sweet, but nothing incredibly great.
8. Go Get It
The chorus sounds like it is borrowed from Ace Hood’s “Go N Get It.” T.I. raps about always grinding and hustling. This is another mediocre track.
9. Guns and Roses (feat. P!nk)
Relationships are complex, meaning that you can love and hate someone at the same damn time. This is exactly what this song is about and T.I. and P!nk can both speak from experience. P!nk sounds great and was the saving grace of this song.
10. The Way We Ride
Rapping about cars and riding with his top down, T.I. doesn’t explore anything new. There is no versatility or growth shown with this average track. His rhyme scheme is very first grade with “She’s gonna be in here, and you have no idea.” Like really?
11. Cruisin
We hear a different style from T.I., with auto tune on his voice. The beat is smooth and is something you could cruise to. It has the potential to be a hit and is one of the best songs on the album.
12. Addresses
Haters who talk big get hurt, is the message here. T.I. isn’t afraid to put his address out and had a nice punch line with the “see me on the family hustle, when everyone can see your family struggles.” This is a descent beat and track, but he could have come harder.
13. Hello (feat. Cee Lo Green)
Some have heard this already as Cee Lo sings to say hello to jealous people. His part is catchy, but the content of this song is nothing new from T.I.
14. Who Want Some
The beat sounds like it was taken from an old movie, which is very creative. DJ Toomp did a good job producing this track. Aside from the nice production, T.I. doesn’t deliver lyrically as they are very simple and he often repeats words. Someone else would have done a better job with this track. He did the most yelling at the end “I’m off probation nigga! I’m off probation nigga!”…And?
15. Wonderful Life (feat. Akon)
Talking about how wonderful his life is and how he sometimes takes it for granted, T.I. digs deeper in this song. He addresses different people in each verse, which was creative. Akon’s part was nice as well.
16. Hallelujah
The singing in this song was excellent. This is another track where T.I. went outside of his comfort zone and did well. Great way to end the album.
This album is one word: unimpressive. It’s the same old T.I. we’ve been hearing for the past ten years. “Trouble Man” is mostly about money, cars, women, and haters with a few deep tracks. Being that he has been in the game so long, T.I. should have dug deeper instead of reverting to the same things that made him famous. Without showing maturity, T.I. still seems like a young rapper. His constant reference to haters is puzzling, when I have never really heard anyone hating on him. Most of the features on this album were great, but also outshone him. Overall, the album is a huge WOMP and his rap career is in trouble, man. My advice to T.I. is stick to the reality show, do a feature now and then, and don’t drop an album until you’re ready to mature your style.
Fav tracks: 4,5,6,7,9 and 11
Grade: C-
The post Music Bomb: T.I’s “Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head” Album Review appeared first on Bombonem.com | Street Journalism 2.0.
