LISTEN: T.I. - Swagger Like Us ft. Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil' Wayne

DOWNLOAD T.I. - Swagger Like Us ft. Kanye West, Jay-Z & Lil' Wayne (MP3)

An M.I.A. vocal sample cradles four verses by four of the biggest rappers out there. Kanye West put a little, well...a lot of T-Pain on his vocals and surprisingly delivers the strongest verse of the whole track. Lil' Wayne put even more T-Pain on himself. T.I. finally gets a little lyrical again. And I just had to use this picture. Jigga does Jigga but doesn't really deliver any memorable lines IMHO. But I'm always extra hard on the GOAT. If Weezy would've delivered this verse I would've called it his first great verse probably.

LISTEN: Lupe Fiasco - Superstar RMX ft. Young Jeezy & T.I.

DOWNLOAD Lupe Fiasco - Superstar RMX ft. Young Jeezy & T.I. (MP3)

Didn't see this one coming. Young Jeezy and T.I. pre Atlanta on the 'Superstar' remix. I'm sorry but Matthew Santos still bothers me.

NEWS: DJ Khaled Starts New Label

DJ Khaled has announced a new label deal for We The Best Music (I just e-rolled my eyes) with Def Jam. My guess is we'll see some posse cuts with Young Jeezy, Fat Joe, Akon, Lil' Wayne, T.I., T-Pain, Rick Ross and the other usual suspects. Even his press release reads like a bad SNL skit.


"I'm proud to be a member of the Def Jam family," said DJ Khaled. "Def Jam has been and still is one of the most important institutions in hip hop AND music as a whole. I am extremely honored and excited to be a partner with them in We The Best Music. I look forward to creating great music and continuing the success. LA, Shakir and Lenny S are you ready? I am!!! Let’s go!! Caaaaassssshhhhh Flooooowww!!! And remember....We global....global, we're international.....international! We The Best Music/Def Jam....get ready for history!!!"

VIDEO: B.G. - For A Minute ft. T.I.

Not a huge B.G. fan myself but here's his new video for 'For A Minute' featuring T.I.. Off of Too Hood 2 B Hollywood LP.


Via Khal.

LISTEN: Maino - What Ya Gonna Do ft. T.I.

DOWNLOAD Maino - What Ya Gonna Do ft. T.I. (MP3)
Maino underwhelms on this new track featuring T.I..

LISTEN: Wyclef Jean - Slow Down ft. T.I.

DOWNLOAD Wyclef Jean - Slow Down ft. T.I. (MP3)


Wyclef Jean employs his acoustic guitar, some finger snippets and T.I. for the reggae influence 'Slow Down'. Off of Carnival Vol. II Memoirs Of An Immigrant.

NEWS: T.I. Recording New Album

The homie T.I. is already 6 joints into his upcoming new album Paper Trail in a rush before a potential, and potentially long-ass, prison sentence. He's all doing it at home as he is under home arrest.


A representative for the Grammy-winning artist, 27, says he has already completed six new tracks in a studio inside his Georgia home. T.I. hopes to release the disc, which he's calling Paper Trail, in September 2008. The album's title refers to the fact that T.I. is writing his new lyrics down — a practice he abandoned after his 2001 debut, I'm Serious. Each of his four subsequent albums, including this year's T.I. vs. T.I.P., was composed without the aid of pen or paper. "He wanted to take more time to really put something down [this time]," explains his rep. More here.

LISTEN: David Banner - Us And The Gunz + B.A.N.

DOWNLOAD David Banner - Us And The Gunz (MP3)
DOWNLOAD David Banner - B.A.N. (The Love Song) (MP3)


David Banner has been raising his profile lately with the Congress hearings, Jena 6, and a few other causes he is supporting. Lets see if the music can follow. On 'B.A.N. (The Love Song)' he addresses T.I.'s current legal situation alongside what might be the weirdest sample-based hook this year. At first it hurt my ears but somehow it managed to segue into something smoother than expected. On 'Us And The Gunz' a handful of Jay-Z quotes/samples are combined to provide the somewhat clumsy hook. MP3's via Ozone Magazine. Ian has a few additional tracks.

LISTEN: Scarface - Big Dogg Status ft. T.I., Lil' Wayne & U.T.P.

DOWNLOAD Scarface - Big Dogg Status ft. T.I., Lil' Wayne & U.T.P. (MP3)


Scarface is still supposed to drop a new album on Def Jam, which I'll believe when I hold it in my hands. For now we have this Down South all star posse cut to carry us over.

NEWS: Rappers And Guns And Jail

First T.I. gets arrested for trying to buy a bunch of guns. Matter of fact see below for the exact types of guns.


And then Do or Die member Belo just pleaded guilty to second degree murder. And his girl has to go to jail for attempting to bring the jury with a whopping $1,000. Off to jail for 10 years it is.

Oh and of course there's Prodigy who's off to jail for 3.5 years for possession of a loaded gun as well.

Next up Busta Rhymes off to jail?

VIDEO: VH1 Hip Hop Honors Snoop Tribute

Pharrell, T.I., B.G., Ice T and Daz all perform in this VH1 Hip Hop Honors tribute to Snoop Dogg.

LISTEN: T.I. - Rydin' Ft Plies

DOWNLOAD T.I. - Rydin' Ft Plies (MP3 | DJ)


New T.I. mixtape track. It shames me to say this, but Plies is my guilty pleasure rapper once every month or so for a full day. Yes, I throw bows. Sometimes. Who are we kidding, I throw shows, not bows. More on shows thrown tomorrow.

NEWS: Possible Nelly & T.I. Collabo Album In The Works

Oh jeez. Nelly speaks on a possible collaborative album with T.I.: "It's definitely being talked about.We're definitely trying to put something together, work on something that could be truly outstanding. I think now people kinda get it. I think people want me to be a certain way because of all the success I had. That's just never been me. I feel real fortunate to sell the amount of records I have, but I like to hang. I don't care if you sold one record and I sold this. I like to kick it. But we're definitely working on something." (Via 16 Bars)


For real Hove! It'll be called 'Derrty Rubberbands'!
Unbeknownst to myself there's actually a new Nelly album coming. It's called Brass Knuckles, allegedly has appearances by Akon, Babyface, Lil' Wayne, Pimp C, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, Chuck D and T.I., and it was pushed back from October 16th to November 13th. Apparently the Nellster is trying to put together an additional track with Janet Jackson and Mariah Carey, and another with Bruce Springsteen.

LISTEN: Ludacris - I Run The A ft Jermaine Dupri

DOWNLOAD Ludacris - I Run The A ft Jermaine Dupri


Last night at Radio City Music Hall Ludacris performed his own take on 50 Cent's 'I Get Money' with a new track called 'I Run The A', clearly aimed at rival T.I.. When I got home from the performance this studio version, featuring Jermaine Dupri, was waiting for me in my inbox.

Update For photos of the Radio City Music Hall show go here.

VIDEO: T.I. - Hurt ft. Alfamega & Busta Rhymes

T.I. is back with another video off of the ehhhh T.I. Vs. T.I.P.. Alfamega and Busta Rhymes join him in this stylish black/white visualization of 'Hurt'. Busta steals the show.

NEWS: Jay-Z's 'American Gangster' Tracklist

The folks over at iTunes are confusing us a little bit with their information on Jay-Z's new album American Gangster. They give us a tracklist (see below), and a little description which includes songs not in the tracklist. It also doesn't include the song Just Blaze just said they debuted at the 40/40 club this weekend ('Roc Boys'). And I'm going to go out on a limb and say the 'I Get Money' remix will not appear on this album because it wouldn't be cohesive with the theme. (You listening Jay? I know you love the blogs.)

"American Gangster includes collaborations with Nas ("The Return"), T.I. ("American Gangster"), and Kanye West ("Vietnam War")".

American Gangster tracklist
1. Amen
2. Blue Magic
3. Untitled
4. Alright, Alright
5. You Don’t Know
6. And The Winner Is
7. American Gangster (Featuring T.I.)
8. Welcome
9. Ignorant Shit
10. The Demise
11. I Get Money (Remix)

VIDEO: Hip Hop Vs. America

This is part 1 of BET’s Hip-Hop vs. America discussion program. Appearances from T.I., Al Sharpton, Nelly and others.

LISTEN: David Banner - Spare Clips (Full Mixtape)

DOWNLOAD David Banner - Spare Clips: The Mixtape (MP3) via TSS


I've been wanting to be a fan of David Banner's for a long time, but I always liked him as a public person more than as a rapper/producer. This mixtape showcases a few new elements and features Snoop Dogg, Akon, Lil’ Wayne, Bun B, Lil Jon, T.I., Rick Ross, Busta Rhymes, Pimp C, E-40, Lil Boosie, and others.

It Was All Good Just A Week Ago

Did everyone decide to be friends again without telling anyone? Jay-Z, Diddy, Kanye West, T.I. and 50 Cent performed at Screamfest at Madison Garden in New York last night. MTV reports.


Jay-Z, Diddy & 50 Cent (cred)

Jay-Z, Diddy & Kanye West & 50 Cent (cred)

Jay-Z, Diddy & Kanye West, T.I. & 50 Cent (cred)