Album Review for Kill The King by T.I.
As an ATL native (Southside product if you will), T.I. was probably one of the first rappers where I legit knew every single song word for word. Over the years that has obviously declined as he has changed and gone away from the Trap sound we once knew. With this being his 12th and final album, we are faced with the reality that he’s essentially gone out with more of a whimper than a bang.
The album is very much a reflection of his past career, acknowledgement of his success and those who he influenced, promoting his hustle and flex mindset and also including a slew of features from Atlanta artists as well as his family too. Tip makes references to his past sounds of the Trap but he does include more of a melodic rap style from a production standpoint with features that include Anderson .Paak, Dream, Usher, Summer Walker and NBAYoungBoy. Hell speaking of Summer Walker, I will give Tip and Summer credit for making a song that you can definitely go to Cascade, Sparkles or my personal favorite Skate Towne to skate to.
The production isn’t overly complex or anything special, it just feels generic in certain instances. Even the lead single produced by Pharrell really underwhelming. There isn’t one beat that you feel like stands out and even when he includes his son (Buddy Red) the instrumentation feels more jumbled than fluid. There are a lot of tracks that just don’t feel interesting enough to revisit and some are just complete skips all together. As a fan, it’s disappointing because you think about how the man started his career and how he really had a one of a kind sound and now he ends it sounds as generic and as bland as it could be.
Unfortunately, there is nothing truly redeeming about this project. It does have a bittersweet feeling to it considering even though you can enjoy it, it almost is a good thing it’s over because you know you’ll never have to hear it again. I appreciate T.I. for everything he’s done in the music industry, but this is one he probably could’ve kept.
Final Score: 4.6/10
Pretty Ricky may not have necessarily got the chart success of B2K, but what has them winning right now is just how much that Bluestars album really hit the streets like none other! People really knew this album from top to bottom!
#VERZUZ