Pitchfork

The road to T.I.'s sixth LP Paper Trail just grew a little bit longer, as the release has been pushed back once again. Now due September 9 from Grand Hustle/Atlantic, the disc-- which finds our rhyming hero returning to writing his words down rather than reciting them from memory for the first time in years-- keeps getting more interesting to talk about, and MTV.com recently unearthed a handful of intriguing details.

First, there's the really cool looking cover art:

T.I. notes to MTV.com that "the illustration for Paper Trail pays an obvious homage to my rekindled affinity for writing my lyrics down as well as displays my commitment to keep my art slanted towards the abstract." I note that it looks a lot like the front of Ian Brown's Golden Greats, but will almost certainly be the superior album. But I digress.

On a far more incongruous tip, MTV.com also caught an earful of a new collaborative track between T.I. and spring-loaded emo powerhouse Fall Out Boy. They report that the song, tentatively titled "Out in the Cold", "is somber and emotional, loaded with dramatic, crashing guitars, soaring strings, and the King of the South's deeply personal lyrics, which detail the trials and tribulations he's endured over the past year."

The track was purportedly intended for use on Fall Out Boy's forthcoming follow-up to last year's Infinity on High, and FOB bleater Patrick Stump sings a chorus of "I drink to forget/ I write so I never will/ Curse myself/ Down and out for all time/ I'm always leaving you high and dry/ I'm always leaving you out in the cold."

But that, somehow, is not the weirdest part. Fall Out Boy mouthpiece Pete Wentz went on to compare the song to "something from [1993 Tim Burton-penned stop motion goth favorite] The Nightmare Before Christmas," adding, "after hearing about the chance to do a collaboration with someone like T.I., we thought, 'How amazing would it be to send him something with strings and a Danny Elfman-like intro that Patrick came up with?' Lyrically you can take it as [being about] a friend, a lover, or even a fan."

Really, this whole thing would have made more sense circa T.I. vs. T.I.P. had T.I. assumed the role of the two-faced mayor.

A rep for Atlantic told MTV.com the song is in consideration for Paper Trail. It certainly wouldn't be the first time Fall Out Boy and hip-hop have crossed paths, as bandmembers have previously worked with Jay-Z, the Roots, Lupe Fiasco, Gym Class Heroes, and Tyga.

In other T.I. news, Paper Trail's first "official" single will be "Whatever You Like", produced by Jim Jonsin. Not sure what that makes "No Matter What", but there you go. And T.I. recently signed a three-picture deal with Screen Gems Studios, just in case this whole rapping thing doesn't work out.