Album Review: T.I. - T.I. vs T.I.P.

We all fight with ourselves: Whether or not to buy those shoes? Should I take this shot of Patron, knowing I have to drive home? Well, with Clifford Harris - a.k.a. T.I. - he fights with whether or not to make music for the clubs or music for the streets. On his 5th album, he brings his battles to the mic with T.I. vs T.I.P.

The album starts with T.I.P. speaking on behalf of Mr. Harris and giving us the T.I. that we were introduced to with hits like Dope Boys, Top Back, Bring 'Em Out, and What You Know About That....songs like Raw, and the first single, Big Shit Poppin' proves that. We also are treated by the long awaited collaboration of the King of the South and King of NY, Jay-Z on Watch What You Say To Me (produced by Khao.)

As the album progresses we are introduced to the more calm side of Mr. Harris, T.I. With the help of Just Blaze, T.I. lets hip-hop know that he is not going to let it die with "Help Is Coming". He also answers the question of why is it that he stays on top while doing what everybody else is doing with Wyclef Jean produced song, "My Swag." By the end of the album, we find T.I. and T.I.P. exchanging words with one another about things that have gone down since T.I. has been in the game.

The album takes time to grow on you. The first time listening, I wasn't impressed, feeling I wanted more from T.I.P. and less of T.I. But after taking a second listen to what T.I.'s side of the album....I had to tip my hat to the young man for the entire album. I will say that T.I.P. does have MORE of what you are looking for than T.I. and I would dare to say T.I.P. won this battle.

-Wise