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King without a crown

T.I. - King (Atlantic)

Katie Boncher

Issue date: 4/26/06 Section: A&E>>Music
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Not every rapper can handle having a movie in theaters and new album climbing the charts. T.I. has demonstrated that his talent surpasses lying down a catchy hook. On his new album King, he shows what he really has to offer, realism. T.I. - like any other rapper - has had singles about drugs, booze and girls. King, however, shows something that was never there before in his tracks: his reality.

T.I.'s resilient voice coincides flawlessly with the beats of Just Blaze (who rarely produces for southern rappers), allowing the tracks to mesh together with no effort at all. With Jamie Foxx providing his vocals on "Live In the Sky" it comes across as a sincere remembrance to those he has lost. So many rappers try and fail at demonstrating sincerity in their lyrics, but T.I. does it without flaw. His lyrics on the track, "Why You Wanna" demonstrate a conversational tone instead of the usual disrespect most rappers holler at girls on their albums. His lyrics read, "What, he think he too fresh to show you that you're the best? Compliment you on ya intellect and treat you with respect?" While this is seemingly not poetic, in rap, this is pretty much the best it's going to get. His sappy remembrance to a girl that he is no longer with in "Hello" seems a stretch, yet somehow it works. T.I. does an amazing job of letting his voice flow through the lyrics so that the tracks sound genuine.

While some of the tracks on King are slower beats he still supplies plenty of tracks that will get you dancing in the club. His already overly popular single "What You Know" is simply leading the way for many more to follow. While T.I.'s consistency as a skillful rapper has been up for question, he has done nothing more but proven himself on this album. One thing to catch is how the title is sprinkled throughout the album, always reminding the listener who the King really is.

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