The KING UNCAGED Anticipation Thread (i guess this is called NO MERCY or something now idk)

I'm excited about this one but with reservations. Admittedly I began with Paper Trail and then went and got the rest of his stuff, but while Paper Trail has some definite bangers, it's a far cry from stuff like King, the 'pop rap' trope isn't what I like to hear from him (though I did like "Live Your Life").

Think this one could be a "King"-esque banger? write thoughts here. I'm excited and nervous for Sept 24.

Think this one could be a "King"-esque banger?

hell no

one can wish

I'd settle for Urban Legend tho

t.i. isn't a good rapper any more, flat out

disagree - there is nothing wrong with his rapping. there is everything wrong with his choice of producers/beats/songs.

I agree that he'll never do another Trap Muzik or King though.

i would agree with you except that the "ya know" beat is pretty amazing but the rapping is average at best

I don't think he's lost it lrically at all. A little early to be declaring his career over...

well his career certainly isn't over commercially

but in terms of being an artist worth anticipating... i think that ended with 'paper trail'

Guess I'm the only one who'll say a good word for Paper Trail.

the thing is that i feel like ppl keep making excuses for t.i. every album -- for 'paper trail' it was "he's back to writing things down again! lyrics are gonna be on point!" now it's "listen to these beats! he's back on some street shit!" and honestly none of it matters -- dude just fell off, straight up

i mean he's not at eminem levels or anything, and i'll listen to "ya know" when it comes on the radio, but it's also tinged with nostalgia over how mid-decade t.i. would murdered that beat

I liked his verse on Tangerine. Xpost I like Paper Trail but it pales in comparison to the priors

I've liked most of his guest appearances over the last six months, and I'll take the good-not-great "I'm Back" too.

Idk what you mean by "Eminem" levels

that eminem is probably the most unlistenable popular rapper in the world right now, so i was trying to temper my fatalism of t.i. by saying that he's not at "eminem levels"

Em's position is almost unfathomable to me: his sales haven't flagged yet they're inversely proportional to his critical profile. Who woulda thunk it in 2000?

i completely disagree w/jordan that t.i.'s fallen off as a rapper. he killed "i'm back"; "ya hear me" and "yeah ya know (takers)" are above average; he pretty much does what he sets out to do on "got your back". i'm still really into the pure sound of his voice. "he isn't a good rapper any more, flat out" is a statement that requires a lot more backing up!

idk i think his verses speak for themselves

he's sanded away what used to make him interesting -- i mean, what's the biggest threat on "ya know"? "all squares kick rocks with your bare feet?"

i think a huge part of what used to make him interesting was his charisma, which he still has - he still passes the "how he says it" test easily, "what he says" is maybe more debatable but lines like the molotov cocktail one or sushi/touché or "omg just like my daughter n em" are still pretty satisfying. also, still got a knack for a big hook.

i mean it's a bit apples-and-oranges to compare them but the king uncaged material so far is so much more exciting to me than, say, lil b's endless stoned mumbling into youtube

regarding Eminem, I don't think we can really say there's a media consensus on him, especially his last release. Sites like Slant and Pitchfork hated it, whereas Rolling Stone and USA today loved it. There were a few 'good' but not 'great' reviews too.

I liked the new one, it had more of his sense of humor, even if the production is still way too sterile for me. I miss the Slim Shady LP days but Recovery's purdy good.

on relistening to Paper Trails fuck the hate this shit is great. i remembered it not being as good asi t is.

t.i. isn't a good rapper any more, flat out

― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 8, 2010 11:42 AM Bookmark

so full of rong. even if he has fallen off slightly (barely if at all, still on a pretty high level), can you really be mad when dude is rapping like 18 times better than any other other rapper of his popularity?

ok second half of Paper Trails pales in comparison to first 3 tracks, so ok some of it is warranted but still p. good

I like Fuck a Mixtape.

t.i. isn't a good rapper any more, flat out

― J0rdan S., Sunday, August 8, 2010 2:42 PM (1 week ago)

you don't even fuck with "i'm back"? i appreciate the position that 2005 TI would have done better with the same material, but that song still goes hard and he's not embarassing himself out there or anything

"i'm back" and "ya hear me" are okay radio joints, but i'm not playing them out at home

i just don't think the guy is a good or interesting rapper anymore -- if you grade him on a curve of other 'popular' rappers then... i guess? but who cares about that

like i said, i think there's this circle of wishful thinking with t.i. where we're looking for him to still be our huge, universally loved southern rap pop star... and he still may be that to other people, but his music isn't quality anymore, it's just pretty rote and average rap music

i mean c'mon

Recorded songs

* "I'm Back" (produced by TrackSlayerz) - 3:39
* "Yeah Ya Know (Takers)" (produced by DJ Toomp)[29] - 4:28
* "Got Your Back" (featuring Keri Hilson; produced by DJ Toomp)[15] - 4:24
* "Dream Me Up" (featuring B.o.B; produced by Cut the Check)[21]
* "Lick It" (featuring Lady Gaga; produced by RedOne)[15]
* "Strip" (featuring Trey Songz)[15]
* "Show Me Your Tears" (featuring The-Dream)[15]
* "Knock Down, Drag Out" (featuring Young Dro & Mac Boney)[15]
* "Ya Hear Me"[38] (produced by Keith Mack) - 4:05

i dunno, i've only heard two of those, neither of which are great, but i am loving to fucking death all his guest appearances lately

you can be admiral of the cool kids

his verse is really hot on the "freeze me" remix

got some true freaks with me so cute in the face
lil bad azz call em my boosie babies
MDMA they em twerkilating
i feed em dick they feed me turkey bacon

MDMA they em twerkilating

you can just strike out "Bun B" and replace it with "T.I." for this post:

The chickbad from the ludicrous 'ludacris' song (some dude) wrote this on thread Bun B of UGK - the best rapper in the south? ever? on board I Love Music on Aug 4, 2010

Bun B has definitely been in a very lame predictable rut for a while now, and I have zero interest in hearing the new album, but it's kind of ridiculous how much people are exaggerating how bad he is. I mean aside from the occasional stumble he's always pretty competent, boring sure but not outright bad.

i mean even with a cringe-inducing line like "captain of the cool kids" his verse on "Hello Good Morning" is still 10 times better than Ross's

actually the worst verse of T.I.'s career might still be better than the best of Ross's

i realize that i'm prob way on the other end of the spectrum but there's some hands over ears type opinions from other people itt

i.e. rev saying that t.i. has "barely" fallen off

i've never even heard "Yeah Ya Know" until i pulled it up on youtube -- this is dope, it's actually on the radio some places?

i love Yea You know. it's on his mixtape, and isn't it being used on the Takers soundtrack? the latter I'm pretty sure of but don't quote me.

no idea on radio though

i think some dude's post about T.I. is wayyy more correct than when it applied to Bun B

also, this:

"his verse is really hot on the "freeze me" remix

― be my anchor baby (J0rdan S.), Saturday, August 21, 2010 3:14 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink"

i've never even heard "Yeah Ya Know" until i pulled it up on youtube -- this is dope, it's actually on the radio some places?

― richie goingham (some dude), Saturday, August 21, 2010 5:51 PM (29 minutes ago)

yeah i've heard it on rap radio, good song

yeah i heard it on the radio every few days or so

weird, the rap stations here played the hell out of the street singles from Paper Trail but haven't touched it. but then the shitty song w/ Keri barely gets played either.

keri song is all over the radio here. seattle station was playing "i'm back" when i was up there, but portland radio never touched it

I hate the Keri song...not gonna stan for that one.

pushed back...AGAIN.

http://www.trapmuzik.com/news/ti-talks-suicidal-jumper-off-the-ledge/

whoa

let me see you bounce right to left and let your
shoulder leaaan
shoulder leaaan
shoulder leaaan

well this is actually good

http://hulkshare.com/hgxfc1cg96zb

yah thats like a solid 7.5 imo, im not hugely a fan of the beat but its def worthwhile

not as good as the rocko single from earlier this year, but it will do

not a big fan of the hook but tip flows nice on that

& that meandering synth isn't the hottest sound in the world but i think the production works alright overall

this album=2011 now that this fool is back to jail.

I mean just about every rap album I was waiting for this year got pushed back

TM 103
Trunk Muzik: 0-60 (tho to be fair this only got pushed back a month so far)
King Uncaged

Gucci at least stuck with the second/third date he announced.

Apparently this has been renamed No Mercy.

http://rapradar.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/ti-no-mercy-hq.jpg?w=400&h=400
great album cover

completely

the one w/ the lion was terrible

i guess king recaged didn't have the same ring.

Leaked. Title track features The-Dream in "urban-rock" mode.

huh so no "i'm back"/"got your back"/"yeah ya know"/"ya hear me"?!

been hearing hype about "castle walls", looking fwd to hearing tomorrow.

this is worse than "dead and gone"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz8YQFGCOV8

/!\ ALERT /!\ gucci mane said ti's walls were brittle /!\ ALERT /!\

alex da kid!!!!! this guy is the new ryan tedder, holy shit does he need to go away

fuck that dude

this tracklist is begging for a "worst song on t.i.'s 'no mercy'" poll

2010: the year t.i. became a b.o.b knock off

omg terius noooo

kanye steals a hook wholesale from gucci, t.i. (via pharrell) steals a hook wholesale from kanye

jake one song here is pretty much the only redeemable one

this song is dope except for when rocko is umma doing whatever he does

http://www.youtube.com/user/TIvsTIP#p/u/6/ihg0aXALL-s

oops, this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JKx0hQQgf0

the first rocko single of whatever his project is > any song off this t.i. album

ugh rocko is like half this song

this has a better beat & is more catchy than anything on this t.i.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HrQRBf746Y&feature=fvw

that is hot garbage to the 14th degree

nah that is grade A classic ringtone rap

as opposed to the NOW 37 phase of t.i.'s career

tbh i couldn't even make it to the hook

halfway thru and this album is pretty fucking bad :(

all the way through and it got no better

weird how refreshing that rehashed neptunes beat sounded in the middle of all those thudding drums though - not that that was a good song either

why are people (elsewhere) going nuts over "castle walls"? it's like, hi, t.i. and xtina are out of ideas but would like some of that "airplanes"/"love the way you lie" money

i'm guessing this project was scrapped after his arrest and cobbled together without any of the inappropriately triumphalist (but vg) tracks that came out before it

This is terrible... but Lex is right, "Amazing" sounds kind of great in relief from the fucking shit that precedes it. But even that is fourth-rate Neptunes.

the way T.I. says "I serve a bitch straight D" in "Amazing" sounds like Pharrell caught Tip after running a marathon.

Skateboard P make your face fall off

http://www.threadbombing.com/data/media/2/face_melt.gif

i was heavily rmde at ppl acting like that track was even remotely hot

I'm playing that track like four times a day. Fu jordan

there have been so many beats & songs like that over the past like three years, idk -- it's only good/exciting in the context of the sludge of shit that is that album

i mean, at the very least that song is rendered irrelevant by "6' 7""

i was wrong, there is actually a hot song on this album

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KniuNrcTIjA