King of what?

"And the prophecy read, that one day, like the phoenix that rose from the ashes, that a boy would be born unto a family in the slums. This boy would go on to use the knowledge he gained, while fighting for survival in the streets, to become a great leader. And in time that boy would grow to become king!"\nThis is the first thing you hear on Tip "T.I." Harris' new album, King. Apparently in T.I.'s opinion he's reached the pinnacle of rap. With 18 new tracks producing over 70 minutes of music, it's clear that T.I. definitely put a lot into the project. And with his starring role in the new film "ATL," it's clear T.I. had a busy year.\nAfter listening to the album, it's difficult noticing significant differences between the catalogue of songs -- most of them are basically bass-pounding beats with some sort of recurring background sound (but what rap isn't nowadays).\nHere's an anecdote that nicely sums up what type of record this is: I borrowed the CD from a friend of mine who purchased it, he gave it to me and we proceeded to get in different cars and make our respective rides home. On the way, we got stopped at a light side-by-side, as my other friend who was driving put in the CD. "Turn it to track six (Ride Wit' Me)" he says. My friend driving cranks the volume, track six blasts out of his Oldsmobile speakers and looks over at my other friend, both nodding.\nThis is the optimal listening environment for King (or perhaps an overcrowded party). Put it in your car CD player (hopefully you have speakers superior to those provided by stock Oldsmobile), crank it up and drive several miles an hour below the speed limit on crowded streets. I'm not sure what this accomplishes, but it feels right.\nIn terms of the actual content of the CD, once again most of the songs sound the same. There are a few standouts, however. The aforementioned track six "Ride Wit' Me," "What You Know," "Why You Wanna," "Get It" and "You Know Who" were my favorites.\nT.I. also abides by all the "contemporary rap album standards." Spoken word introduction: check. Song featuring Jamie Foxx: check. Random skit: check. Song beginning with a siren: check. Song featuring Pharrell: check. The only thing he was missing was a remix of a song that appears earlier on the CD, but who can expect perfection.\nOverall, King was pretty much what I expected. A lot of songs that are prone to be played extremely loud, with little difference between them and a few better than average songs mixed in. On a whole, it's nothing real special.