The long-awaited week finally arrived - did the takeover of T.I. happen as planned???

The Ruler's Back:

With the release of his film debut, “ATL,” and his first studio album since 2004’s Urban Legend, T.I. appeared in the previous weeks to be stepping up to make full claims on the throne which he for years has claimed, as “The King Of The South.” After years of raised eyebrows and skepticism (not to mention more than a little hate from Ludacris and Lil Flip fans), it appeared that T.I. was making his move towards superstardom. The hype for the movie, with also stars OutKast’s own Antwan “Big Boi” Patton, seemed poised to push the “Rubber band Man” to new heights. T.I.’s face graced the cover of XXL, the single and video for “What You Know” gained massive airplay throughout the country, the movie trailer was played countless times on advertisements during NCAA Tournament coverage, and T.I. and Big Boi made their way through the MTV/BET and late night talk show circuits, with T.I. hoping to join the rare company of having the number one movie and album simultaneously.

The long-awaited week finally arrived and did the Grand Hustle CEO’s takeover happen as planned??? Well, no… and yes. Though “ATL”, which faced an impossible 1-2 punch of “Ice Age 2” and “Inside Man,” only debuted at #3 in the country, the movie and the acting performances of its hip hop stars were met with mostly positive reviews, while still taking in an impressive $12.5 million in its opening weekend. At the very least, T.I. did nothing to embarrass himself acting-wise, and lies somewhere below Mos Def and Ice Cube, but well above Snoop, 50 Cent, Nelly, and Ja Rule on the scale of rappers-turned-actors. Meanwhile, the album, King, also received impressive reviews and sold a ridiculous 531,000 copies to debut at #1, becoming the first solo Southern artist to pass the 500,000 mark for opening week sales. Boasting production from Just Blaze, Pharrell, Mannie Fresh, and guest appearances from Common, Jamie Foxx, Young Buck, and his own P$C, the album contains a multitude of potential singles (including the Q-Tip and Crystal Waters inspired “Why You Wanna,” the remake of the UGK classic “Front Back,” and the Swizz Beatz helmed “Get It”) to keep the album on the charts for a long time. But, will T.I. push 50/Eminem type numbers??? We’ll see. More importantly, will we ever find out just who is catching T.I.’s heat on “Talkin to You” or “You Know Who???”