T.I. Talks New Album 'Paperwork,' Staying Connected

When T.I. isn't collaborating with everyone known to mankind or making dreams come true, he's working on massive projects. His latest release is Paperwork, the first album in a planned trilogy, which T.I. has thought all the way through. 

"There are three albums, and each of the albums have their different concepts," he told Fuse. "Paperwork, the theme of this album is merging old with new, just applying instrumentation into a futuristic approach to hip hop or where hip hop is going, being ahead of the curve with your lyrics and your cadences, but keeping the music somewhat grounded in an, I guess, nostalgic principle. The next one will be more Trap music-ish... unadulterated, gutter, gangster. It’s going to be some big records because it’s still me, but it’s going to sound like an independent project. Just because I feel like once you’ve gone as big as you can go, the only thing you can do is reset. After that, the next project is more so of a hustler’s love story. It’s songs that are inspired by relationships or interactions, from the beginning or the end."