T.I. confirmed in recent months that he'd going down a different path than initially expected with his next album, Paperwork: The Motion Picture. It was originally going to be called Trouble Man: He Who Wears The Crown, but a new direction called for a new title.
As he previously announced, Pharrell Williams would be reuniting with Tip for this release, latching on as an executive producer.
The King of the South offered an update on the album's progress with XXL, and he confirms things are going well. "I tell Pharrell and the rest of the gang over here, we set the bar extremely high," Tip said. "And we are incredibly hard on ourselves in what should and what should not be accepted."
"People forgot how fun gangster shit is. People forgot how exciting it is to really live on the dangerous side of life," T.I. explained. "Just people forgot the feeling that you got when [you] watched "Boyz In The Hood" for the first time. Or when you heard "All Eyez On Me" for the first time. Right now, music is going in a different direction and it is in a different place. I salute and celebrate that path as well. However, there’s a place for the story that needs to be told from our perspective."
T.I. confirmed he's had studio time with Jeezy and Busta Rhymes, as well, there is a possibility the late Hustle Gang rapper Doe B will make an appearance on the LP. He's also confirmed a track with Justin Timberlake.
"DJ Toomp did a record. Actually, it’s a Justin Timberlake collaboration called “Trap Me Up," the rapper revealed. "It’s an awesome record JT blessed me with."
He continued to talk on the many records he's done with Pharrell, perhaps we'll get something along the lines of "I'm Serious"?
"Also, me and Pharrell have a plethora [of songs]. We probably done recorded 14 records. Pharrell and I alone. Words couldn’t even begin to describe how cutting-edge, left-field and just how broad these records are. But they still have that texture that I speak of. They still have that Curtis Mayfield, Bobby Womack, a ridin’ dirty kind of … but a new way to present it to the world because it has that thing that Pharrell does to music that sets it apart from any and everything else that’s being played. And of course I had to give it the pulse of what I know. It’s incredible work. I did incredible work with Keno. I did incredible work with Sham [“Sak Pase” Joseph]. B.o.B did a record for me. It’s awesome."
The album doesn't have a release date just yet, so stay tuned.