Singles

T.I. - Whatever You Like

Richard Wink 29/05/2009

Rating: 3/5

This one goes out to the ladies. Yep, T.I. releases one more single from Paper Trail, one more before he heads off to Porridge to serve one year and one day sentence for felony weapons charges. Dripping with swagger juice, as Sir Timothy Westwood might quip, T.I. floats along delivering his rhymes with clear semi-spoken clarity.

Basically on 'Whatever You Like' T.I. plays the super smooth sugar daddy, generous and 'loving', who provides for his girl like a Premier League footballer does for a WAG. It's the classic love story of bounty being exchanged for booty; some might say it is also the nadir of capitalism.

Jim Jonsin repeats the trick he worked on Lil Wayne's 'Lollipop' with that lucid, shuffling electronic drum beat driven by laid back synths. If one were being critical then you would say the song caters to the ringtone generation with a simple, unspectacular chorus and a nagging straightforward hook, but crucially it sticks in your head. Manufacturing this infectious catchiness is imperative for any rapper who wants to cross over into the mainstream and something T.I. appears to be mastering.

'Whatever You Like' certainly isn't the best single released from Paper Trail that accolade has got to go to 'Live Your Life', but the single is another hint at a more mature T.I. and a further step away from the schizophrenic T.I. vs. T.I.P.

T.I. is heading into the big leagues and once he serves his time, 2010 should be the year that he pushes on from his mainstream breakthrough, taking a seat next to Kanye, Jay Z, Eminem and Lil Wayne.

Release Date: 01/06/09