T.I.
No Mercy
(Grand Hustle)
Rating: 2 1/2
Four weeks after reporting to Forrest City Federal Facility to serve an 11-month sentence on drugs and weapons charges, T.I.’s latest LP entitled “No Mercy” was released in stores Dec. 7.
“No Mercy” includes an all-star lineup of collaborating artists that add charisma and attitude to this 20-song deluxe version T.I.’s album. The album is merely an extension of his previous two albums “T.I. vs. T.IP.” and “Paper Trail.”
The deluxe version of “No Mercy” is T.I.’s seventh studio-produced album. It includes five bonus tracks and featured artists Chris Brown, Christina Aguilera, Eminem, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Rick Ross and Trey Songz.
In “No Mercy,” T.I. stuck to his style of examining the romance of the gangsta mentality and the reality of living the life of a hustler and drug dealer. His lyrics are charged with the selfish lyrics that have propelled rap to its iconic status today.
Tracks like “Welcome to the World” and “I Can’t Help it” have a baseline that inspires the kind of club atmosphere T.I. fans have grown accustomed to hearing. Other tracks like “How Life Changed” and “Get Back Up” show the contrite psyche of an artist in turmoil.
“Get Back Up” featuring Chris Brown explores the thoughtful side of T.I. — a self-proclaimed hard, drug dealer. He comes off as apologetic for “the wrong he’s done,” though he never fully explains what that “wrong” was.
However on the next track called “I Can’t Help It,” T.I. — in no small way — contradicts “Get Back Up.” These contradictions have become a staple in T.I.’s music.
His conscious is having a crisis, to be sure.
T.I.’s contradictions in his music do not add to his mystique. They contribute to the small-minded nature of T.I. “No Mercy,” is full of flashes of unkempt genius in need of organization.
Later in the album T.I. proved that not all artists should be paired with him on his albums. Eminem concisely roasted T.I. in “That’s All She Wrote,” while T.I.’s collaboration with The-Dream on the album’s title track “No Mercy” begs to be ridiculed.
Among the few highlights of the album “Ya Hear Me,” the title song from the movie “Takers” is included on the deluxe version of “No Mercy.” The fact that a track from an official soundtrack is included among the track list further displays the hodgepodge nature of the album.
The effort by T.I. to expand his talent as an artist and storyteller is lacking, but he manages to give his audience the kind of album they expect from him. The popcorn style of rap T.I. has become famous for making will continue to gain him great popularity.
If he continues to stunt his talent and remain satisfied with his status as a mid-level entertainer, this may be as good as it gets for T.I.
— RJ Young/The Daily
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TIvTIP 1 year, 4 months ago
This review of T.I.'s album is so incredibly biased. I feel that more time was spent on revealing how much the reviewer dislikes T.I. as an artist and less on the songs on the album. First of all, if we want to talk about selfish lyrics let's talk about Kanye West's albums. Kanye is one of the most self-loving hip hop superstars in the game today. However, this doesn't prevent Ye from making some great music, as his latest album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was considered by many, including myself, to be the best hip hop album released in 2010. Listening to "Get Back Up" and "I Can't Help It," I do not see a clear contradiction between the two songs. The first song serves as a response to the media that portrayed Tip as a thug and criminal after his first weapons arrest. The second essentially says, "Hey, if you don't like who I am then screw you." I don't see a clear contradiction, I feel like you pulled one out of nothing. I do agree that the album is trying to go in two separate directions though. While I thought this was confusing at first, I realized Tip felt compelled to respond to everything that has happened surrounding his run-ins with the law and at the same time he wanted to make songs about the typical topics he has always talked about. Honestly, do you think anyone would take him seriously if he had a CD full of songs like "Get Back Up?" While you may see this album as small minded, please go look at what some other rappers are putting out right now, like Gucci and Souljaboy (if he's even a rapper...), and tell me that Tip is small minded in comparison. Tip is also that holds his own on a track with Eminem. In "Forever" with Drake, Kanye, Lil Wayne, and Em, the only memorable verse was Eminem's at the end. Tip easily holds his own in this song and is not taken over by either of Em's verses. You forgot to mention "Castle Walls" and "Poppin' Bottles" as stand out tracks on the album as well. While this is far from the best album Tip has ever put out, it is no where near as bad as you say, and your personal hatred of T.I. is apparent in the article, which is not professional.