T.I.'s T.I. Vs. T.I.P. :A Review

After his most successful album to date, 2006's King (read review), T.I. returned the following year with the concept album T.I. vs. T.I.P. In the vein of similar dual personality albums like Cassidy's 2004 Split Personality, T.I. attempts to illustrate the dichotomy between the two disparate elements of his psyche: T.I., the more mature and suave figure and T.I.P., the volatile miscreant who keeps getting the rapper born Clifford Harris into trouble.

The album is anchored by set pieces (Act I: T.I.P.; Act II: T.I.; and Act III: T.I. vs. T.I.P.: The Confrontation) in which T.I. and T.I.P. argue with each other in between tracks representing each respectively. Thematically though the songs in-between don't sound much different, save for a gruffer vocal intonation on the part of T.I.P. and more aggressive content; T.I. also unwisely eschews techniques that might make his personalities stand out more, such as more radical alteration of his vocals, or differences in the instrumentals that represent each personality, such as on his protégé Bobby Ray's recent B.O.B. Vs. Bobby Ray mixtape (read review). And the songs after Act III: T.I. vs. T.I.P.: The Confrontation, seem to veer away from the concept entirely. It would have been more refreshing if the emcee had interwoven the concept throughout the album, rather than slapping relevant tracks between the set pieces, and even more refreshing had he avoided the clichéd trope of facing his alter ego in the mirror, as Act III: T.I. vs. T.I.P.: The Confrontation proffers.

The album's features-mostly A-listers-are ample evidence of how successful he's become in the wake of King. Accompanying T.I.P. are Jay-Z and Busta Rhymes, who deliver dominating verses on the sinister Watch What You Say to Me and the menacing Hurt respectively, while Eminem delivers an atypically underwhelming verse on T.I.'s marginal Touchdown (and it's ironic that Eminem of all people, rather than say Jay-Z would appear on the album's more mature section). Wyclef and Urban Legend (read review) collaborator Nelly also put in appearances, the former on both You Know What It Is (T.I.P.) and My Swag (T.I.), and the latter on Show It to Me (T.I.).

T.I. vs. T.I.P. largely lacks the big singles of its predecessor. Big Things Poppin is serviceable but not as flat out infectious asKing'sWhat You Know, or even Urban Legend's ASAP or You Don't Know Me or Trap Musik's Rubberband Man. The music, on the whole is good however, good enough that it does not deserved to be yoked unceremoniously to a cliché. This album has been done before and done better [Eminem's My Darling off of his recent RelapseLP (read review) easily trumps any of the T.I. vs. T.I.P. songs here]. It also feels just a bit forced, as Trap Muzik's T.I. vs. T.I.P. single notwithstanding, psychological explorations are not what anyone is accustomed to hearing from the rapper. And it's really less a matter of competing personas - wholly fully formed personalities a la Eminem and Slim Shady. It's more a matter of competing impulses. As such there really is not that much between the two characters. T.I. vs. T.I.P. is ultimately a collection of strong material, but it would have been stronger had T.I. and T.I.P. stopped bickering long enough to make a thematically coherent album.

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