15 years ago today, T.I. helped branch out hip-hop into another genre, which is trap music. The genre deals with drug dealing, gang life, and being in the streets in general. Debates are still on today whether T.I. or other artists from Atlanta created it. The reality is that nobody emphasized the word trap in their records before T.I. and he indeed created the genre in 2003 by naming his second studio album ‘Trap Muzik.’ Production was handled by one of the best producers in the game such as long-time collaborator DJ Toomp, Jazze Pha, David Banner, and even Kanye West.
Trap Muzik was T.I.’s big break in music after seeing failure at the start of his career. He came into the game in 2001 with the release of his debut album ‘I’m Serious‘ with Arista Records. Due to not seeing much commercial success with I’m Serious despite the streets feeling the singles ‘Dope Boyz’ and ‘Heavy Chevys‘ featuring his group P$C, LA Reid dropped the Atlanta rapper. In the spring of 2003, T.I. bounced back and put the world on notice with his guest verse on Bone Crusher’s ‘Never Scared’ single. The line “I’m a Bankhead n*igga, I’ll take to cookies” helped set the stage for an epic year. Following that guest appearance, it was the perfect time for T.I.’s second studio album to be released.
Everything changed for T.I. with the release of Trap Muzik. He launched his own label Grand Hustle in 2003 and also signed a major label deal with Atlantic Records. The first single off of the album was ‘24s‘ produced by DJ Toomp. Toomp was originally skeptical about the record’s success but saw young people jamming it in the streets and saw it take off. The single peaked at No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. He soon followed up 24s’ success with the next singles ‘Be Easy,’ ‘Rubberband Man,’ and ‘Let’s Get Away’ featuring Jazze Pha. The Rubberband Man video was epic for T.I. and the city of Atlanta as it featured cameos by Michael Vick, Usher and Diddy.
T.I. did a great job of asserting his claim as the creator of trap music as he opened the album with the hook “This a trap. This ain’t no album, This ain’t no game, this a trap” on the song ‘Trap Muzik‘ featuring Grand Hustle signee and close friend Mac Boney. From there, it set the tone for the album and why T.I. was confident in his own sound.
Look What I Got introduced the young and boastful T.I.P. side of T.I. as he bragged about what he’s received since his success such as old school cars and Rolexes as he gets right into it on the first verse of the song with “Big wheels still spin when I stop. Presidential roll, gold Rolex watch with no rocks. I save them for the pinky, keep you n*ggas blinkin.”
T.I. vs T.I.P. was one of the underrated records on Trap Muzik as it features T.I. rapping on a back and forth dialogue with his alter ego, T.I.P. T.I.P. is hard-headed and focused on himself and wasn’t worried about anything while T.I. is pleading with him to be cautious on the road to success.
While T.I. raised his fist as the creator of trap music on this album, he also asserted his claim as the king of the south, which also brought much controvery at the time. He stuck by this claim on the song King Of The South as he brashly asks “What these other niggas talkin? I don’t believe that s*it. I’m the king ’cause I said it and I mean that s*it.” He knows that he’s running his hometown of Atlanta as he states that him and his P$C group are “the only five rappers outta Atlanta who’re bustin.”
24s was one of the hardest records off of Trap Muzik and definitely had you feelin’ yourself if your whip was ridin’ on 24 inch rims or better. The music video featured some of the best cars T.I. was pushing as he rides around the 285 highway of Atlanta.
Rubberband Man was the best dope boy anthem in 2003. T.I. brought the meaning of wearing rubberbands to show how much weed he sold, whether it be three rubberbands signifying $5,000 made or wearing eight to show $20,000 made.
T.I.’s Trap Muzik album helped him put his music career in the right direction again as he stood out from other rappers with his own genre of hip-hop, showed that he would be in this game for a long time, and the fact that even though he was true to his west side of Atlanta roots, he was still very marketable in the future as an actor and business man. Trap Muzik peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart and second on the U.S. Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.