T.I. isn’t the best singer, but he got a fitting hook and an easy beat for “Love This Life,” which his label Grand Hustle/Atlantic is dubbing as the first single from long-awaited album “Trouble Man.”
So a centerpiece for “Man” is T.I.’s woman, on whom he spends his energy with “Love This Life.”
“You know, you love / Bitch, you know you love this life/ Don’t nobody do you like me,” T.I. reiterates on the refrain. Because if there’s one thing that ladies love, is being told what they like. And to be called bitch.
Beyond some obvious strain between romance and being a hustler, T.I. has dropped a generally likeable, Mars-produced track, his flow bounding after the beat with ease and an accessible drum sample that could take it to top 40 and not just the rap charts.
No insight has been revealed as to when to expect “Trouble Man” except “later this year; there have been some fits and starts in getting an album proper from TIP ever since he left the pokey in late summer last year. He’s launched his reality show “T.I & Tiny: The Family Hustle,” put out a book last fall, premiered a mixtape on New Year’s Day in 2012 and has dropped a few promotional singles with “I’m Flexin'” featuring Big K.R.I.T. as the biggest standout. It didn’t track so big with crossover radio, so maybe that’s why there’s a push with “Love.”
T.I. is on tap as producer of Iggy Azalea’s forthcoming debut album “The New Classic”; he will also star along side of Kelsey Grammer in Starz series “Boss.”
What do you think of “Love This Life?”