Album Review: T.I. - Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head

T.I. can now truly assume the king status he first claimed near a decade ago. These days, no one makes mass market, commercial rap as neatly as he does. Gangland bangers, big singles with pop stars, wildly self-indulgent navel gazing, stellar guest performances; all the ingredients are here, and – aside from the obligatory skits – each complements the other.

We start Trouble Man with straight-up street raps. G Season with Meek Mill is a monster. “I told you motherfuckers once: prison ain't changed me”. Boom. Unrelenting from there. Who Want Some, more than 45 minutes later, is almost as menacing. In between we get Guns & Roses featuring P!nk. It's a pop epic fuelled by the Pink One's gospel gravel. We also get André 3000's guest verse on Sorry. This cameo, following 'Dre's appearance on Rick Ross' Sixteen last year, continues a trend where we see OutKast's finest reimagining the beats provided to him for guest spots. It's revelatory and incredibly good. For those of us with an ear for kitsch, Wonderful Life sees our host exchange thoughts with his dead father, all punctuated by Akon performing a cover of Elton John's Your Song. And then there's the nod to Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah where our host has a Beatles moment: “Because I'm special, they're gonna make me suffer. Like they did to Jesus…”

That's why we listen to this, though. There are the pantomime villain brag moments, high camp, thrilling guest spots and occasional moments of transcendence. It's all here. The new T.I. album is a T.I. album par excellence.