Posted by Andrew Unterberger on 10/24/2012 at 11:51 AM News

The Popdust Files: gotye, Samples, somebody that i used to know, t.i., trouble man

Recently, T.I. previewed his long-delayed upcoming album Trouble Man in New York, playing a dozen songs for a select audience (which, sadly, did not include us at Popdust—what gives, Tip?) in advance of the album’s Dec. 18th. release. The songs, with their titles, producers and guest stars were later shared on sites like Rap-Up for the rest of us have-nots to have a gawk at—though T.I. maintains the album’s tracklist is not yet final—and here’s the Trouble we’re looking at so far:

1. “Intro”
2. “Somebody I Used to Know” feat. B.o.B and Kendrick Lamar (prod by Keno)
3. “Ball” feat. Lil Wayne
4. “Trap Back Jumpin’” (produced by DJ Toomp)
5. “Wild Side” feat. A$AP Rocky (produced by No I.D.)
6. “Trouble Man” feat. R. Kelly (produced by DJ Monte)
7. “Guns N Roses” feat. Pink (produced by T-Minus)
8. “Sorry” feat. André 3000 (produced by Jazze Pha)
9. “Hello” feat. CeeLo Green (produced by Pharrell)
10. “Who Wants Some” (produced by DJ Toomp)
11. “Address” (produced by T-Minus)
12. “How Wonderful Life Is” feat. Akon (produced by Sanchez)

Wait a minute. Let’s backtrack to the second track. “Somebody I Used to Know,” featuring B.o.B. and Kendrick Lamar? Like…that “Somebody [That] I Used to Know”? No way.

Yes way, apparently. Rap-Up says that T.I.’s “Somebody” samples the Gotye song, and AllHipHop takes it a step even further, calling it a “cover of Gotye’s mega-hit.” Now, we’re not imagining that it’s actually a straight cover, with B.o.B. playing the Kimbra part and Kendrick Lamar refereeing or something, but that the song at least appears to heavily borrow from the Gotye song is definitely among the most interesting pieces of news we’ve heard recently. Can’t wait to see the music video.