To read this man’s short legal history and repeated run ins with the law, one would be surprised by the level of sensitivity on this record. However, as Coolio proved when he released ‘C U When You Get There’, rappers have feelings too. And this is what T.I is keeping alive in his latest single ‘No Matter What’ from the album Paper Trail released on Atlantic Records.
It’s hard to know what to make of this track. Cut the vocals out and you’ve got a backing track that combines gospel-esq. synth organ sounds with a heavily compressed, slow hip hop beat - listen out for the reverb on the hand clap that plays in unison with the snare. Brilliant. This, accompanied by other rich instrumentation including a string group breakdown towards the end of the track creates an overall vibe that is, to some extent, the perfect backing track for late night preaching on the God Channel.
Then you bring T.I’s vocals back into consideration - as he self descries himself, he ‘huffs and puffs rhymes’. He certainly does although some of the lyrical content is questionable including prolific lines such as “whatever you can do in the hood, I dun did it” and the classic “and suckers will get served, better know this”. There are also a string of references to his rival Shawty Lo emphasising his ongoing feud.
To be fair I’m no expert on this quasi-sensitive Hip-Hop and looking at his musical career he has been recognised in many circles, receiving the BET Award for Best Hip-Hop Artist in 1997. This acclaim can be attributed to the fact that he has worked with great producers and great musicians; if a dubious artist wants their record to sound good then getting Kanye West to produce some of the tracks, as everyone knows, is going to raise the overall level of sound quality and the general profile of the artist, tenfold.
Still, it’s certainly not a bad effort. A record like this would be perfect for a last dance at a school disco potentially lining itself up to become an anthem for 12 year olds everywhere. I really wouldn’t be surprised if this gets popular. Give it a listen but don’t get your hopes up.
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CAPDOWN - NO MATTER WHAT SINGLE
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T.I No Matter What
