T.I. Drops Dr. Dre Produced “Dope” Featuring Marsha Ambrosius
Late last week, T.I. promised that a new Dr. Dre-produced single would drop today (May 16) and sure enough, "Dope" featuring Marsha Ambrosius is out on Apple Music and iTunes. The new single follows up "Money Talk," which Tip released back in February, and offers a nice B-side compliment to the lyrically dense ode to hustling. Here, T.I. raps over an Aaliyah "Rock the Boat" sample, high on the potency of his better half's love.
Tip also dropped the video for the single on TIDAL today starring cameos from Travis Scott, Killer Mike, Big Sean, Nelly and more. Watch that above.
T.I. makes no mistake, recognizing the great company he's in by name cropping his famous collaborator and the unmistakable sample used, rapping in the song's first verse, "Truth is for real, feel like Dre and Pharrell / Mixed with Eric B and Rakim shorty, hell on a scale / And still the game enticing me, like every time I see her / They like to pop a seal, high enough to see Aaliyah."
The King of the South is following up last month's Bankroll Mafia album with one of his own, titled The Dime Trap. Off the strength of the first two singles alone, it sounds like T.I. is coming back for the chart-topping crown that was so clearly his around the town of his 2008 album Paper Trail.
After welcoming a new daughter, Heiress, into the world with his wife Tiny, and helping to deliver the child himself no less, it sounds like T.I. is fully back on his musical grind, offering slick talk and sweet talk in equal measure. Listen to "Dope" below, and download the track now via iTunes.