Right NOW: Kanye's 2 for 2...TIP's T.I.

What I mean is that Kanye West has released two very good songs. Whether you agree or not is up to you. TIP on the other hand, has released two TI tracks. Meaning, (taking alter-egos into consideration) TIP (the Clifford we knew before the mainstream success) has released two TI-type songs right now. That's not to say that they aren't good songs, but they aren't very good either. I'd call them safely formulaic.

As a refresher, TI/TIP/Clifford has this alter-ego thing he's been pushing for a while now and this album is supposed to be the musical version of a battle/struggle between the two personas/egos/whatever. TI is the businessman who knows how to maintain his cool and get the job done. TIP is that dude from the street that embodies all the brashness, bravado, pride, and machismo of your local hustler/trapper/whatever.

Up to this point, TIP has released "Big Things Poppin" (which I really like now):



And he has also released "You Know What It Is" (which is slowly growing on me but the whole Wyclef thing is gonna be a huge issue for me):



The two songs are not TIP-type songs (i.e. - street songs). Neither is close to "What You Know" or even "Rubber Band Man", but they're two "safe" releases in that they'll both garner radio spins and video play. In my opinion, these are songs that don't stick to the "formula" 100%, but they're still very formulaic...Safely forumlaic. In case you haven't figured it out, TI keeps the production very radio-friendly; the lyrics are pretty much in-between ballerish and gangsterism; and the videos typically show him being aggressive yet cool at the same time (read: ultra-swag).

This *formula* will probably work out very well for TI since his album drops soon (Tuesday) and there's a heap of controversy promotion surrounding the album. Admittedly, most hip-hop fans who surf the InterWeb already have the album and probably won't buy it, but I'm sure he'll still probably move more than Fabolous did the first week (159,000). Having heard TIP's album, I'd have to say that Fab's is the better of the two, by the way.

Kanye West's album doesn't drop till sometime in the fall I believe (correct me if I'm incorrect) August 21 but he's ALREADY released two songs that will probably have faded off (in the U.S. at least) by the time his album even hits the shelves. But there's something interesting in Kanye releasing two very good songs long before his album comes out. It speaks to how he's confident enough in the rest of the material he has (or is working on), that he feels he just wants to put his music out when he feels like it. And we all know he's not at a loss for confidence. One thing about Mr. TuDa is that he does seem to put a lot of effort into his music and his videos. Sometimes he's over-confident and sometimes a bit annoying with his immature rants, but one thing you can expect from Kanye is quality production and a tremendous amount of effort put into his work. You may have noticed that I left out the expectation of quality lyrics. I actually did this on purpose because I think the following song gives you an idea of the type of effort that I hope Kanye puts into his lyrics from here on out:

Can't Tell Me Nothing



And just as a bonus I've added the second single off the Graduation LP. The fact that Mr. TuDa wasn't afraid to sample Daft Punk (who I must admit I know jack shyt about) to create a hip-hop track is applaudable. Pushing the limits of your music, being creative, exposing who you are a person (no JohnnyCakes), trying new things and being different than everyone else...Isn't that a large part of what hip-hop is about? What hip-hop needs? Or maybe it's just me??? What I do know is that THIS is not what hip-hop is about.

Stronger



MUSIC ... Kanye

STYLE ... T.I.