FiyaStarter.com - Fiya on the Brownstone with Malik Sinsear

-

“I was gonna drive around
the corner and get a blow job.”
-Charles Barkley
Drunk ass political hopeful.

Comments on content?
email us

Wanna submit something?
*read this page

Brooklynite spitting flames on the current state of his first love, Hip-Hop from his stoop in Bedstuy. He may be from NY, but his love for the culture is first and foremost, so don't expect your typical east-coast bias, on this block. Malik is simply here to kick knowledge and wisdom for your understanding.

FiyaStarter RATING =

(3 1/2) Fiyaballs

Album Review

T.I. - King
Atlantic's Miracle
by: Malik Sinsear, for Entertainment

First off, I’d like to extend my rare praise to the team over at Atlantic Records for the work they’ve done with the new T.I. album, King. Honestly, it’s the greatest job I’ve ever seen as far as delivering such an anticipated album. I mean, the fact that this shit didn’t leak until just days before its release…man, you’d have better luck trying to explain how David Blaine does one of those seven day “magic” tricks without the help of that masked magician snitch dude.

Now about the album itself, King marks probably the make or break point in T.I.’s career in regards to whether he’s going to be a star or a superstar. As he tells you himself on the intro King Back, this is culmination of all the work he’s put in from his debut in 2001 with I’m Serious through his underground shit on through Trap Muzik and 2004’s hit Urban Legend. Coinciding with a major film release (ATL), it’s probably safe to say that if he doesn’t get it done now, he never will. In my opinion, with the recent success of Lil’ Wayne and Young Jeezy, he doesn’t have much to worry about there, his real dilemma is now going to be balancing his music to satisfy his loyal fan base and the fans he’s trying to add on. I guess what I’m trying to saw is, “Is this nigga finna sell out?” Let’s see.

As mentioned before, King Back kicks off this record. A solid intro with a lot of bragging, but what else would you expect from a song with that title, an anti teen pregnancy anthem? Exactly, now What You Know, which is currently the equivalent to a three pack of Red Bull when played at most urban discothèques is what it is, pure Fiya. It’s the best song on King as most expected, but what disappointed me a bit was that not many features on the album even approached matching the adrenaline rush of What You Know. With the exception of Undertaker featuring Young Buck and Young Dro, You Know Who and Ride With Me, a lot of the songs on this record seem a bit “lighter” than the ones on Urban Legend. Live in the Sky, for example featuring Jamie Foxx is cool, I guess, but it seems a bit forced as does Goodlife aka Allure Jr. (Jay-Z) featuring Pharrell and Common. Not terrible songs by any stretch, but they each leave something to be desired, like the absence of their awkwardness.

King is an above average album as a result of average production (Bankhead, Stand Up Guy) and a few misplaced chorus’ (Hello). Its saving grace is what a true rap king should have working for him on every album, lyricism and flow. A perfect example is on one of those average production examples, the controversial I’m Talkin To You, where Just Blaze just gives T.I. the wrong beat to shoot his southern subliminals over, until the first eight or so bars of the third verse where Tip just blacks out over the beat. I think my laptop levitated the first time I played it. He went on to make that beat his bitch as he did on the last verse of Get It. T.I. will sell a lot of albums his fourth time around as a result of What You Know and the next no-brainer single, Why You Wanna where Tip absolutely assured himself a hit by securing a Crystal Waters beat and Q-Tip chorus. If that don’t Get It, nothing will.