Atlanta rapper T.I. is the nominal headliner of what's been dubbed the Georgia Power tour, but his counterpart, Young Jeezy, is the guy from the ATL who has the momentum. Last summer, Jeezy made a pair of debuts inside the
Billboard Top 10: one with his own
Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 -- which was blingariffic and proud of it -- the other with his N.W.A.-influenced quartet Boyz N da Hood. It was a coup for Jeezy, but he was no overnight success; he worked his way up through the southern mixtape circuit for several years and finally emerged as the best indicator of its commercial clout.
T.I., on the other hand, has seen his career interrupted by jail time and a subsequent third album (2004's Urban Legend) that many critics felt was a pale remake of past glories, like the David Banner-helmed single "Rubber Band Man." Earlier this year, T.I. got Paul Wall -- the Houston MC and producer who's opening this show -- to give the album a slowed-down, chopped-and-screwed remix, but it remains to be seen whether his career gets back on the fast track with his film debut in the upcoming Cascade.
