Screamfest ’07

T.I.

Photo: Patrick Hoelck

Madison Square Garden; Wed 22

Last year’s edition of this recurring BET-sponsored package tour featured as headliners the teen-friendly R&B singers Omarion and Ne-Yo, both of whom exploit street-smart hip-hop images but make music to drive junior-high girls crazy. This time Screamfest seems to be going for a somewhat less cuddly vibe: Headliner T.I. begins his brash new album, T.I. vs T.I.P., with an answering-machine message from Warner Music Group chairman Lyor Cohen, who not so cheerfully advises the Atlanta MC against “playing with my motherfucking money” while a synthesizer whines ominously behind him.

Evidently, Cohen’s recommendation was taken to heart: Despite its putatively high-concept premise—the rapper is actually two people, one a thug and one a businessman—T.I. vs T.I.P. largely sticks to what T.I. does best: detailing his own threatening excellence over high-end designer beats by producers including Mannie Fresh, Danja and Wyclef Jean.

Screamfest’s other acts hew closer to the tour’s precedent: Ciara, the wholesome R&B vixen; Lloyd, the chiseled crooner; and T-Pain, the intriguing Florida-based singer-rapper who uses a robot voice to transform his lewd stripper anthems into tender love songs. Also on the bill are Star Search alum Tiffany Evans and Yung Joc, the latter in advance of a sophomore set that promises a lesson in “hustlenomics.”