September 30 marked the five year anniversary of Paper Trail, the fifth studio album from T.I. At this point, T.I. had been in the game seven years and was preparing to make his mark in the game. Every year, T.I. was in the mix, but he never did enough to be “the man.”
Following the release of T.I. vs. T.I.P., T.I. revealed he was going back to his hip hop roots, writing out his rhymes. Because T.I. was going to take his time and write this album, he named it Paper Trail. It shouldn’t come as much coincidence that the album was one of the best to drop in 2008.
In the summer of 2008, T.I. got his fans ready with his “No Matter What” single that addressed his infamous arrest, the death of his daughter, and more. With the mood set, he dropped the ladies anthem, “Whatever You Like,” his first chart-topping single. He followed it up with his second, “Live Your Life,” featuring Rihanna.
Justin Timberlake is on a legendary run now, but him shattering hip hop tracks with his vocals is nothing new, he did the same thing on the Paper Trail album, as he assisted T.I. on “Dead & Gone.” Paper Trail also became T.I.’s highest-selling album to date, going double platinum. Arguably one of T.I.’s deepest albums, five years ago, all of the hip hop media was discussing the album more than any other hip hop release.
Interesting fact is how had things gone the way they were originally planned, T.I.’s Paper Trail would’ve served as the launch for Jay-Z’s The Blueprint 3. The original version of The Blueprint 3 was due to be released in 2008 and “Swagga Like Us” featuring M.I.A., Kanye West, and Lil Wayne was going to be a shared single. But, when Jay-Z chose to retool his album, “Swagga Like Us” was scrapped along with the rest of the album.
Watch music videos from Paper Trail below:
Watch “No Matter What” by T.I. below:
Watch “Whatever You Like” by T.I. below:
Watch “What Up, What’s Haapnin'” by T.I. below:
Listen to “Swagga Like Us” by T.I. ft. M.I.A., Kanye West, and Lil Wayne below:
Watch “Live Your Life” by T.I. ft. Rihanna below:
Watch “Dead and Gone” by T.I. ft. Justin Timberlake below:
