#14

T.I.
King
(Atlantic)

A cocksure young black man is not a unique figure in hip-hop music. But a young man calling himself “King”, using UGK’s finest production moment for his own(“Front Back”), and nonchalantly rhyming the same word, like, 50 times (“What You Know”) while still captivating the listener? An impressive feat wherever you come from. It doesn’t hurt that T.I. gets immaculate production help, but his understated, laid back and incredibly charismatic flow is star here. There’s no denying that King has its schmaltz, its unimpressive guest spots and overlong intro/outros. It’s unimportant. When dude hits the mic, it’s over.

(One more thing: there’s no ignoring any record that includes the best single song of the year. “What You Know” is classic – the best of any genre.)