Swagga Like Us - Jay-Z & T.I. (feat. Kanye West & Lil Wayne)

Single “Swagga Like Us” was released September 6, 2008 by artists Jay-Z and T.I. and features Kanye West and Lil Wayne, who complete an all-star lineup of hip hop artists.

The song is the first single off Jay-Z’s album “The Blueprint 3″ and will also appear on T.I.’s upcoming album “Paper Trail”, which is set to drop September 30.

My initial reaction was wondering why the song ran so long (5:30), but you have to keep in mind that four really talented artists are getting a chance to spit their game, at one verse a piece. In fact, the only verses I was looking forward to hearing, was Kanye West’s and T.I.’s.

Kanye West starts off the song with “Mr. West is in the building” but then never really drops any outstanding lyrics while he’s there. He uses the Auto-Tune effect (along with Lil Wayne), which hurts the production value of the track.

Up next is Jay-Z’s verse, a big improvement lyrically over Kanye West’s verse, and surprisingly my second favorite on the track, seeing how I normally don’t listen to Jay-Z all the time.

Lil Wayne drops the third verse and states: “What the **** you boys talking ’bout? I know it’s us, cause we the only thing to talk about.” But actually, there really isn’t much to say about this Auto-Tuned, profanity-filled, verse that seems mildly unsuccessful compared to his popular singles “Lollipop” and “A Milli”.

And finally, the first three artists must have known that T.I. would kill it on this track, because they saved the best for last. T.I.’s spits his game just like you would expect, thankfully with his normal voice, and even at a higher level than the other artists: “You kick it like me, no exaggeration necessary, living revolutionary, nothing less than legendary…”

With such an amazing collaboration of popular artists, Jay-Z, T.I., Kanye West, and Lil Wayne don’t offer too much disappointment on a fairly decent single.