T.I. recently stopped by Hot 97’s morning show to talk about his upcoming album, Paperwork. The Atlanta rapper says that 2008’s Paper Trail was by far his “most creative and conceptual album” but that Paperwork isn’t far behind.
On the meaning of the album’s title:
Paperwork, you know, that’s official. If you got paperwork on something then it’s official. Also, if someone has paperwork on you, it can be some trouble. So it’s official. It’s trouble. It’s authentic. Sounds like me. The music supports this theory very well.
After confirming that he recorded 250 songs and chose 20 for the album, T.I. talks about his innovative idea for a movie based upon the album:
Of those 20 [songs on the album], I want to take six records at the top, six records in the middle, six records at the end, with two records as intermissions to the three. And I would like to shoot a movie that consists of three short stories, and the three short stories will connect these six records.
Admitting to some similarities between his album rollout plan and Beyoncé’s, Tip made sure to highlight the differences:
Where I see she and I differ is she went and shot individual video one by one by one. That must’ve drove the cost through the roof. Me, myself personally I’m doing three short stories. I’m not doing 18 videos, I’m doing three short stories. So the same way we would shoot an episode of House of Lies. We would take five days. This short story shall be complete. Five days, this short story shall be complete. See that will bring my cost down, which will raise my profit margin.
Paperwork is set to be released later this summer.
