Paper Trail is ATL born rapper T.I.'s sixth studio album from Grand Hustle/Atlantic Records. Paper Trail is scheduled to be released on Sept. 30, 2008 in North America. TI was originally set to release the album in early August and then early September, before settling on the September 30th release date. TI's Paper Trail album is scheduled to feature 14 tracks which TI wrote while locked down at his home under house arrest after being arrest for gun posession charges. The album's title comes from T.I.'s decision to write down his lyrics on paper, for the first time since his first album, instead of hitting the studio and coming up with rhymes off the top of his head.
Confirmed guests on TI's Paper Trail album are set to include: Kanye West, Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Swizz Beatz, Rihanna, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Fall Out Boy and John Legend. Production is set to feature: DJ Troomp, Scott Storch, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Drumma Boy, Just Blaze and J.R. Rotem.
To date there have already been 3 singles released off Paper Trail before it's even been released. These singles, in order, are: No Matter What, Whatever You Like and Swagga' Like Us, the underground hit featuring Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne. It's said that a music video for Swagga Like Us' is scheduled to appear in September or October. A song or music video is scheduled to be released every week, for 6 or 7 weeks, leading up to the release of Paper Trail, in what is known as the Countdown To Paper Trail.
Paper Trail is set to be one of the biggest hip-hop albums of 2008 and is predicted to sell around 400,000 copies in its first week of release. Whatever You Like sold 205,000 digital downloads in its first week.
T.I. is scheduled to start serving his one year sentence in jail at the end of 2008 or in early 2009.