leak of the week

T.I. Album Leaks, Fans Unsure If Rapper Is Clever or Crazy

Courtesy of Atlantic / Wea

What’s new on the file-sharing networks this week.

T.I., T.I. vs. T.I.P.

Official release date: July 3

The Internet loves it!: “Always anthemic and never sounding like everything else in rap, the beats and song structure that carry this album, [even] when T.I doesn’t bring his A-game … T.I. vs. T.I.P is a damn good record.” [Goose Ninja]

The Internet hates it!: “‘My Swag’ and ‘Don’t You Want To Be High’ try too hard to be radio friendly, and T.I.’s claims of coming to ‘save hip hop’ on ‘Help Is Coming’ make you wonder if he’s drinking the same water as the rest of us … [D]ie-hard fans may find this album enjoyable, but if you’re just now catching on to all of the hype, you’d be better off looking through dude’s catalogue.” [Metal Lungies]

We think: Some artists might follow up a Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling hit like 2006’s King with more of the same, but that could be because they don’t suffer from an apparent dissociative identity disorder. Clifford Harris’s high-concept fifth album finds him struggling to reconcile his two divergent personae — T.I., the Timberlake-dueting pop star, and T.I.P., the drug-dealing thug of his earlier records. He accomplishes this mostly by yelling at himself in two different voices, giving the effect of a coke-rap Fight Club. But even if his sanity is in doubt, this album’s wide-screen production and spitfire lyricism aren’t (download “Tell ‘Em I Said That” or “Respect the Hustle”). If you’re going to lose your mind, this is probably the way to do it. —Lane Brown

T.I. Album Leaks, Fans Unsure If Rapper Is Clever or Crazy