T.I. – Why You Wanna?

Tracing the roots of a track back to the origin is a task that we undertake with great enthusiasm here at OAD headquarters. As much as sampling has played a formative role in the development of hip-hop, the increasingly intertextual nature of all music, where genre, commercial prospects and geographic boundaries are blurred to the extent that such demarcations lose their value, make uncovering just what certain songs grew out of a constantly enthralling past time. And so it was with great curiosity that I googled T.I’s ‘Why You Wanna?’ and with greater curiosity still that I discovered that the chorus it’s built around, with T.I. less questioning then posturing, was actually borrowed from a Janet Jackson song by way of a typically funky Q-Tip feature. ‘Got Til It’s Gone‘, itself borrowing on a Joni Mitchell standard (later revived by brother Z’s perennnial favourites The Counting Crows) is a wonderfully mellow jam and has lent T.I.’s second single from his fourth album some of its relaxed charm, inevitably bolstered by T.I.’s swagger.

As an introduction to T.I., ‘Why You Wanna?’ couldn’t really be further from the truth of the artist. Alongside the sappy, slightly grating ‘Whatever You Like‘, it advances an image of T.I. The lothario, the kind of guy who’d buy a girl anything she wanted to keep her happy and attack any competitor to the thrown just to keep her his. But ‘Why You Wanna?’ is deceptively suave in the way much of John Legend’s early catalogue is; crooning tunes set to laidback grooves that both serve to disguise the biting reality of the substantive lyrical sentiment. Where Legend seemed to be preoccupied with cheating (and then excusing) on ‘Get Lifted’ though, T.I. Is much more about preemptive braggadocio on ‘Why You Wanna?’, teasing his prospective girl about the capacities (or lack thereof) of her current lover and picturing himself in the role instead. If anything was to be a theme of T.I.’s discography, self-aggrandisement would have to be it. Accordingly, ‘Why You Wanna?’ might sound chill but is propelled by undercurrents of machoism. It’s a nice mix that seems to yell, soothingly, relaxed confidence.

The misguided girl at the heart of ‘Why You Wanna?’ is taunted by T.I. in his characteristically breathy style but it’s hard to reconcile lyrical intent – and these lyrics’ delivery – with the beat that rides beneath it. Grand Hustle – T.I.’s label and a stable which handles many of his production duties – has been known for heavy-hitting, real dirty south-style production, all brassy horns, fat handclaps and synth trills but on ‘Why You Wanna?’ we get a pared-back version, centering on some warm keys, more understated percussion and very 80s synth stabs on the chorus. It is this beat, and the sort of wrongly-played antagonistic yearning in T.I.’s voice that draws me in. It remains, regardless of any latent aggression, among the most palatable of T.I.’s tunes simply for the fact that he isn’t try to blow you away with bombastic flow or over the top instrumentation. Instead, as Legend proved on his platinum-selling debut, sometimes it’s all about attitude. ‘Why You Wanna?’ oozes the sort of self-assured brilliance that makes T.I. so much fun to listen to and suggests that whichever girl he’s courting on the track will ultimately fall for him, even though he talks out the side of his mouth – if not for his charm then for his unparalleled aplomb.

T.I. – Why You Wanna?