The L.I.B.R.A. is the eleventh studio album by American rapper T.I. It was released on October 16, 2020, via Grand Hustle Records and Empire Distribution. The title, which references T.I.'s zodiac sign, libra, also doubles as an acronym for "Legend Is Back Running Atlanta". The album, which was initially titled "Love &amp; Liability", serves as the final installment of a trilogy, that was preceded by "Paperwork" (2014) and "Dime Trap" (2018).
Production on the album was handled by record producers such as Hitmaka, 9th Wonder, June Jenius, Cardiak, Juicy J, David Banner, Lil' C, Thaddeus Dixon. The album features guest appearances from 21 Savage, 42 Dugg, Benny the Butcher, Conway the Machine, Eric Bellinger, Jadakiss, Jeremih, John Legend, Killer Mike, Lil Baby, London Jae, Mozzy, Rapsody, Rick Ross, Snoop Dogg, Young Thug, and comedian Ms. Pat, among others.
Preceded by two singles, "Ring" and "Pardon", the album peaked at number 18 on the "Billboard" 200 chart and number nine on the Top R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Albums chart in the United States.
Background.
Upon signing a recording contract with Columbia Records and releasing his ninth album "Paperwork" in October 2014, T.I. revealed that "Paperwork" is part of a trilogy and would be followed up with "The Return" and "Love &amp; Liability". During an interview with Life+Times, T.I. said the next album, or rather, "second act" is "The Return", and following that, the "third act" is called "Love &amp; Liability". According to T.I. the former is going to be reminiscent of his second album "Trap Muzik" (2003), while the latter is going to be "like a gangster version of "808s &amp; Heartbreak"". In a 2017 interview on "The Breakfast Club" radio show, T.I. spoke on his trilogy of albums: "I got, like, two, I got, this next album and two, I got three more albums in my head, conceptualized. […] The next one is more like trap music. It’s "Trap Muzik" 2017. And the one after that, it’s gonna be more like a, uh, love as it pertains to a dope boy."
When speaking on "Love &amp; Liability", which ultimately became "The L.I.B.R.A.", T.I. said “"Love &amp; Liability" is the story of a young man, who is a solid cat, but his heart finds him in relationships with people who he probably shouldn’t be in relationships with, because of the people they’re in relationships with.
Release and promotion.
In October 2020, T.I. revealed that he teamed up with AllHipHop for a stimulus package giveaway: “Since [Donald Trump] said he ain’t giving them stimuluses out until after the election, alright...cool. I’m just gon’ pick up a little bit, man,” he said in the video clip. “We got y’all. Don’t even trip.” All interested fans had to do was vote on their favorite songs from each of T.I.'s previous studio albums in the leadup to the release of "The L.I.B.R.A." In total, $12,000 was on the line as one lucky fan was randomly selected to win $1,200 each day.
Critical reception.
"The L.I.B.R.A." was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 70 based on four reviews.
Riley Wallace of "HipHopDX" found the album "could have benefitted from a few snips here and there, but overall it's a reasonably satisfying listen and a tangible reminder that the self-proclaimed King Of The South hasn't lost his edge". Chase McMullen of "Beats Per Minute" wrote that the project is "a generous, compulsively enjoyable statement, unburdened of commercial pressure in a way that's all too rare in this numbers game". AllMusic's Fred Thomas wrote: "The entire record is a victorious display of self-celebration, but the impact of T.I.'s years in the rap game are felt most directly on tracks where he's matching wit and lyrical dexterity with rappers from the generation that directly followed him". In a mixed review, Trey Alston of "Pitchfork" resumed: "these songs introduce nothing new to T.I.'s story or sound, but they're exactly what you'd expect to find 13 tracks deep into a curated rap playlist on a streaming service".
Commercial performance.
"The L.I.B.R.A." debuted at number 18 on the Billboard 200 with first week sales of 23,500 album units.
Track listing.
Credits are adapted from "Tidal".
Personnel.
Credits for "The L.I.B.R.A." adapted from AllMusic.
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References.
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