T.I.: Urban Legend : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Atlanta's T.I. found himself on the wrong side of jailhouse bars for a few months this year, thanks to a variety of probation violations. When he got out recently, rather than laying low, he promptly launched into a high-friction war of words with Houston's Lil' Flip. On Legend, T.I. claims victory but is still looking over his shoulder. The tension is audible in the generally joyless production, which is all ponderous drum machines and terror synths. Still, T.I. is a top lyricist: He makes the against-all-odds love rap "Freak Though" credible and is utterly menacing on "ASAP," warning, "I'm only gonna ask you to 'find the exit' once politely."