2009: #6 - "Dead and Gone"

(Not the official video, sorry)

T.I. repents, mourns death and develops anger management skills, while (mostly) avoiding treacle and melodrama in this Justin Timbaland-produced smash.

Can a sentimental rap ballad produced by a former member of *NSYNC actually be any good? Actually, the fact that JT is not only guesting on, but producing, Southern hip hop hits shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. He's from Memphis after all. But this is, of course, no Three 6 Mafia song. The track is super radio-ready, and not surprisingly, very Timbaland-esque (think early-00's Ludacris or even Aaliyah, all heavy synths and syncopated beat boxing). As you will learn, we think Timbaland's sound is great, but JT manages to expand it a little in his own way, almost Max Martin-style. Like when the chorus slams in with full force after each verse, it kind of reminds us of something like "It's Gonna Be Me" or "Oops... I Did It Again".

But those songs, as great as they were, didn't feature the breathlessly nimble rhyming of a rap superstar at the top of his game, trying to bring pathos to a Southern hip hop style that desperately needs some. He's no Leonard Cohen, but in "Dead and Gone", T.I. adds some emotional depth to his great skill and Southern swagger. Combine that with the way it all builds into the near-epic chorus and middle-eight, and you have a powerful mainstream rap classic.