Music: New T.I. featuring EVERYONE EVER "Swagger Like Us"

T.I.'s forthcoming album, Paper Trail (Sept 30th) is going to be pretty strong if he can keep up the stream of material he's been putting out. Recent singles "Whatever You Like" and "No Matter What" are both a bit on the pop side of Tip's range, but you've got to love T.I.'s flow over the heavy synthesizer riffs. This song is a slight departure and features a ridiculous number of disappointing guest spots. Kanye and Just Blaze tracked a beat with a slow bass line that roles through the song much to the same effect of DJ Toomp's beat for "What You Know" and matches it with a sample from M.I.A.'s "Paper Planes." Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne provide the first three verses in that order and all of them underwhelm. Jay, Yeezy and Weezy have all been providing weak guest spots on a lot of tracks lately. Frankly, if this song was a contest for "best lines about one's own swagger" then all three superstars just proved why T.I. can call himself the king. Kanye has some outstandingly bad lines including where he calls himself "Christopher Columbus," as well as asking what it feels like be "the shit and the urine." Jay does his thing but doesn't bring much emotion to his verse and fails to really punctuate most of his better lines. Lil Wayne spits his 5,234th verse that sounds exactly the same. Then Tip attacks the beat double time, slightly ahead of the beat, like he has done so well on many tracks before. His whole verse is sick and he ends with his best line "Kick it like me no exaggeration necessary, Living revolutionary nothing less than legendary, Gansta shit herreditary got it from my Dad, Flow colder than February with extraordinary swag." Things look optimistic for T.I.P. going into his forth album, but you've got to wonder if turning away from the grittier sound of his debut album, Urban Legend, means that T.I. is winning the battle between T.I. and T.I.P.

T.I. "Swagger Like Us" feat. Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wanye
Full CDQ track off Paper Trail, props to Fake Shore Drive