With his legal issues finally behind him, T.I. took to the studio and put in serious work, and says he recorded over 100 tracks. The King of the South has so many records that he already has plans on releasing a follow up to his forthcoming Trouble Man LP. In a recent interview, the Atlanta rapper talks about recording in different stages of his life, and addresses the somewhat-controversial album cover for Trouble Man. He also adds that he hopes to one day have a project that is comprised of tracks produced primarily by DJ Toomp.
Having felt his last album fell short of his expectations, due to his legal battles, T.I. wants to compare this album to his previous work on Paper Trail. He knows that fans want to compare his earlier albums to his present day sound, but he says the he has changed as not only an artist, but as a man. “My expectations is to make this album as important and significant to the culture as Paper Trail,” speaking about comparing his works Tip adds, “You gotta look at it, as where a man is in his life...any man between the time of 19 and 32 is gonna have significant changes of who he is as a man.”
Some felt the album cover for Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head that depicts the rapper brandishing a gun, was inappropriate due to his troubled past, but T.I. only is concerned with releasing the best product possible, “I don’t care...because that’s how I felt. It’s my decision, it’s my call. I did what I felt best for the project, best represented the image you felt when you bought it.”
DJ Toomp was behind the first cut off Trouble Man, “Trap Back Jumpin”, and when asked about a possible project collaboration with the producer, the Grand Hustle honcho says he is not only open to it, but it is on his career bucketlist. “You can definitely expect that. I don’t have a problem with it. I think that might be,” T.I. adds, “one of my last things to do...to have a project primarily produced by DJ Toomp.”
Check out the interview below and look for Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head dropping December 18th.