T.I. has finally released his long-awaited 12th studio album, Kill the King — you can check it out below.
Besides being the Atlanta rapper's first full-length project in six years, according to him, it's going to be his final album. Released via Grand Hustle and EMPIRE, the 18-track project closes out a two-decade-plus rap career that started with I’m Serious in 2001, and saw him break through into the mainstream with Trap Muzik in 2003.
The tracklist for Kill the King features an expansive list of high-profile guests, including Anderson .Paak, The-Dream, 2 Chainz, Jeezy, T-Pain, Summer Walker, Usher, YoungBoy Never Broke Again, Zonnique, and Young Dro, among others. It also features production from Pharrell Williams, who helmed lead single "Let ‘Em Know."
To coincide with the release of the album, T.I. is set to tour across the country starting next month as part of the King Succession Tour.
In 2021, T.I. teased that he was working on his “final album,” which was to be titled Kill the King. But he first mentioned the title of the record in 2017 on The Breakfast Club, during which he detailed his plans to retire from hip-hop.
"Ever since my first album, I've put the title of 'King of the South' on me, and to make yourself the king is to make you a target," T.I. explained. "And in chess, the object is to kill the king. So Kill the King is the title of my last album. Will they kill him or will he ride into the sunset happily ever after?"
He reiterated his decision to retire during an appearance on The Breakfast Club earlier this month. "I done did this, man, I danced this dance quite some time," he said. "You know, just remembering where I was as a kid, man, and requesting songs on the radio, waiting to see my favorite video, buying The Source magazine, waiting to watch Video Music Box, just praying for an opportunity to be in the game. And man, going from that kid then to this man now, I got everything I prayed for."
While he’s promised Kill the King will be his “final” album, he has teased that he’ll consider making more music for soundtracks or even collaboration albums.
