There's a supposedly new T.I. track that was "leaked" in the last day or so called "Better Than This." Some websites are saying that this track was produced by Diddy. Adding credence to this claim is that, on the track, T.I. shouts out Diddy and/or Bad Boy several times.

Curious, I reached out to someone at the label and they told me that the track was not produced by Diddy, but by Richard "Younglord" Frierson, formerly one of The Hitmen. The track is also a "few years" old.

Speculation on my part, but listening to it closely, I get the feeling that this may have been a reference vocal. Or, at least the first verse and maybe the third. A reference vocal is when one artist performs the track, how it should flow, how words should be formed, etc. for another artist, as a suggestion of how the song should be structured.

The reason I say this is because of the Diddy/Bad Boy shout outs and the fact that T.I. raps, "why, 'cause their name ain't Diddy like this," on the first chorus. Thinking about it, a few years ago might place it around the time where Diddy was working on "Press Play." Frierson produced the lead single to the album, "Come to Me." We know that T.I. was working with Diddy on the album and recorded in the booth, thanks to a YouTube clip on the Bad Boy Records channel. While he did write on "Wanna Move," which was featured on the album, perhaps this was something that they worked on, as well.

Via Theo.