T.I., the self-proclaimed “King of the South,” has come out with a new album and shows that he is one of the finest rappers to come from the South, though there are a few songs that could have been better.

“Paperwork,” T.I.’s ninth album overall, was released on Oct. 21. It opens with the song “King,” not to be confused with his fourth album of the same name, released in 2006. T.I. unleashes a series of verses with quick rhymes, proving that he is still one of the greatest lyricists to come out of Atlanta. The song also has a good beat to back the lyrics.

One of the album’s standout tracks would have to be the lead single of the album, “About the Money,” which features Young Thug, who has the first verse and does the post-chorus. The song had a good beat, as well as some good lyrics from both T.I. and his guest artist.

Speaking of guest artists, there were some that shined. The song “New National Anthem” featured Skylar Grey, who provided the vocals for the chorus in a song about police brutality.

Another guest artist on this album was none other than the executive producer himself, Pharrell Williams.

The first song Pharrell appears on was the album’s titular track, which was as decent as it was mellow, but there was something about it that kept it from being a great song. For example, T.I. spits some lyrics about serious issues, but Pharrell’s singing on the chorus did not really the fit song that well, but it wasn’t unbearable in the least bit.

Iggy Azalea appeared on the song “No Mediocre,” which had a fun beat to it, but it came off as misogynistic in some ways, with Azalea’s verse being a counter-argument of some sort. It had a nice beat, but the song was rather basic.

That isn’t to say that any other songs that are somewhat raunchy and sexist weren’t good. The songs “Private Show” and “At Ya’ Own Risk,” which respectively featured Chris Brown and Usher, had better beats, and performances done by the guest artists and the main artist, himself.

One of the other standout songs on this album was “Light Em Up (RIP Doe B),” which T.I. rapped about an old friend of his who was killed, and reminisced about the times he had with him while he was alive, and how he was supposed to join him to record but was killed before that could happen. It was one of the album’s darkest tracks and the emotion in T.I.’s voice and in his rhymes.

Overall, this album is actually decent, but there were some songs that could have been done better. While this album doesn’t compare to T.I.’s classic albums like 2003’s “Trap Muzik,” 2004’s “Urban Legend,” 2006’s “King” or 2008’s “Paper Trail,” it’s still an exceptional listen.