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Let the bells ring out and the banners fly! The King is here…
Not quite.
The heralding of TI’s ‘King’ was more of a burning opening up of the sky provided by the leak (not ‘The Leak’) of ‘I’m Talkin’ To You’ earlier this week. That song served more as the galactic herald, The Silver Surfer. Less a roll-out of red carpet and more of a slash through a planet’s atmosphere announcing the arrival of Galactus. Not a King but a devourer of worlds. TI’s Galactus-like return to dominate the Earth is appropriately fueled by a thunderous Just Blaze track amping up the ferocious flurry of fury that is TI in dis mode… but, oh man, those 40 or so seconds in that last minute…

The album is amazing as well. Tip is a virtuoso throughout but his backing band shows diversity and a lack of pandering that is refreshing for an album with so much pressure for success. And, although it could have been edited down from the slightly heavy 18 songs, it is better than the album one fan had imagined. I knew Mannie and Swizz would avail their skills but the echoed claps on ‘Top Back’ and the extra hard bounce of ‘Get It’ were unexpected. TI toys with a heavy rock sound on Tony Galvin’s ‘You Know Who’ and plays with phrasing styles over the blippy ‘Stand Up Guy’ by Kevin "Khao" Cates. Cates also flirts with a retro pop-club track on ‘Why You Wanna’ tempting you to sing La-da-DI-la-da-DA. Hearing Drama on a legit release is not as unexpected as hearing Common and Jamie Foxx on an album without a Kanye-produced track. Also sorely MIA is Jazze Pha. I would gladly replace the Neptunes all-too-familiar keyboards with some hypnotic guitar on another collaborenzel. Even the interludes don’t embarrass... from ‘The Breakup’ (an extrapolated take on Oran ‘Juice’ Jones prelude on ‘The Rain’) to Pimp C’s well-timed breakdown of what ‘King’ should mean, riffing on diamonds and 'the rings' old-timers. Basically he gives contender TI the championship belt to match. But back to the first round…

The first four minutes of ‘I’m Talkin’ To You’ rely predominately on solid body blows and, although his masterful drag-n-drawl are sped up for the Blazing track, nothing prepares you for the barrage of punches coming in the last minute. When he shouts out Killer Mike, Youngbloodz, David Banner and Bonecrusher the rope-a-dope becomes apparent and any lull that his casual technique has generated is broken by a blur of lightning rabbit punches from a Kali rocking Everlast. TI is floating like a butterfly armed with a machine-gun. He hits a Zatoichi zone with a burst of speed and precision without ever losing calm. Like Neo shifting from ‘Matrix’ slomo to a multi-angled bullet-time attack. People might say they’ve heard speed rap before but we’ve all seen players put a ball in a hoop before too. TI doesn’t do a heavy-handed and obvious switch of flow (maybe you’ve heard it, touched it, watched it, left it…). Like a great athlete he’s employing timing and position as much as sheer strength and speed.

I know, enough already… OK, I’ll give it you straight, I don’t need a metaphor… T.I. King. Get it! I’m talkin’ to you!

T.I. (Produced by Swizz Beatz) - Get It
T.I. (Produced by Just Blaze) - I’m Talkin’ To You