Urban Legend

iTunes Review

While its numerous guest spots and bids for commercial acceptance prevent Urban Legend from running as deep as Trap Muzik, T.I.’s flow and monumental swagger have only become more potent. The album slams into action with the astonishing “ASAP,” in which a whirlpool of fanfares and wah guitar engulf the listener as T.I. issues his warning: “Might be thrown off my rocker just slightly / Fiesty, claimin' hot temper don't ignite me / I'm only gonna ask ya find the exit once politely.” “Motivation” is a tribute to T.I.’s unwavering focus and formidable rhyme skills, while Lil Kim, Pharrell and Nelly show up for a bevy of raunchy club tracks. While the Jay-Z sample on “Bring ‘Em Out” is proof that T.I. is more than ready to inherit the crown from the rap’s reigning kingpin, there are moments on Urban Legend that share more with Scarface’s ruminations than Jay-Z’s bluster. T.I. spends the majority of his time picking fights with his foes and recounting his riches, but “Prayin’ For Help” reveals a pensive, remorseful soul of a gangster gone straight: “While I'm lookin' at the life I left, it's kinda hard not to hate myself / But quiet as kept, right or wrong it's just the way I felt / I might be better off prayin' for death, on my knees I knelt / Still tryin' to find a way to accept, it ain't a way that I can help nobody 'til I save myself / Technically I'm still a slave myself / I gotta climb out the grave myself, man I played myself.”