Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel: T.I., Eightball, MJG, Bun B, Mac Boney (rap vocals); Charles Pettaway (guitar, bass); Michael Witwer (guitar); Jazze Pha (background vocals). | | Producers include: Grand Hustle, San Holmes, DJ Toomp, Benny Tillman, Kanye West. | | Recorded at Patchwerk Studios, Atlanta, Georgia. | | Personnel: Jazze Pha (vocals); Craig Love, Michael Witwer, Charles Pettaway (guitar); Bosko (talk box). | | Audio Mixers: Dale Ramsey; Dale "Rambro" Ramsey; Daniel Romero; Manny Marraquin; Leslie Brathwaite. | | Recording information: Patchwerk Recordings, Atlanta, GA; PS West, Atlanta, GA. | | Editor: Mike Caren. | | Photographer: Kevin Knight. | | Whatever promise T.I. showed on his flawed debut is almost fully realized throughout his excellent 2003 follow-up, Trap Muzik. On the surface, Trap Muzik can be viewed as another record built on glorious superficialities, concerned with little more than material wealth, drug dealing, and champion stature. Dig beneath that surface, and you'll come to appreciate an MC who uses the art of the metaphor like few others; "The Trap," for instance, comes to mean a number of things. David Banner, Kanye West, and DJ Toomp all chip in with key production work, but the MC is the real draw from beginning to end, from the supremely infectious chorus of "24's" to the complex self-analysis of "T.I. vs. T.I.P." By the time 2003 drew to a close, this album had spawned three chart hits -- "24's" had a particularly long-running presence on the video shows -- and the album itself scraped the Top Five of the Billboard album chart. With another record as good as this, T.I. just might become the King of the South that he continually claims to be. ~ Andy Kellman | | On the remarkably vulnerable "I Can't Quit," the second track on his sophomore release, TRAP MUZIK, T.I. observes "I'm this close to being a star and just this close to quitting." His 2001 debut, I'M SERIOUS, seemed a powerful can't-miss record with a title single featuring an ace turn by Beenie Man. While it didn't wholly miss, the single which should have been pumpin' around the world barely saw a lick of airplay, and while the album sold modestly, it didn't even approach the platinum level lesser talents achieved with ease. | | No matter though, T.I.'s back with a vengeance on TRAP MUZIK, an appealing melange of subtle beats and easy flows which belie the Georgia rapper's vast lyrical intellect. While there are aspects of the Dirty South in T.I.'s style, his world and his style are distinctly his own--incredibly unself-conscious but confident, observational, insightful, rough, and raw. This odd mix is best represented in the starkly honest "Doin' My Job," a cry for tolerance noteworthy for its lack of either cliche or treacle. The following track, the sexually laced banger, "Let's Get Away," could easily descend into a morass of silliness, yet somehow manages to remain organic. Hopefully, T.I. will not miss success again with TRAP MUZIK, but either way, the record makes it clear that quitting should not be an option. |
Musical Guests | | Eightball | | MJG | | Bun B | | Mac Boney |
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