T.I.

No Mercy Atlantic***

T.I.'s huge stateside success is almost as impressive as his criminal track record. The Atlantan rapper's seventh album was mostly written during his latest jail stint, and lyrics such as "Put me anywhere, in any jail, and I shall prevail" are emblematic of No Mercy's chest-beating tone. Although it's clotted with many guest contributors (the ubiquitous Kanye West, Chris Brown, Drake, Christina Aguilera), the easygoing retro feel of Get Back Upfeels the most natural among the artificial sounding Poppin' Bottles, while Eminem's striking dexterity on the murky That's All She Wrotecomes close to overshadowing T.I.'s own verses. No Mercyis perfectly likeable and occasionally original. However, like most modern rappers, T.I. is playing catch up with the innovatory explorations charted by Kanye and Jay-Z. See trapmuzik.com

Download tracks: Get Back Up, How Life Changed