Critical reception
King received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 77, based on 18 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews". About.com gave it four out of five stars, stating "with his swagger-jacking charm on the microphone, and enough charisma to convince you that he's really running things in his department, he just might be the Jay-Z of the south. King is not only T.I.'s most captivating album so far, it's probably the best thing to come out of the 'A-Town' lately. And, as Pimp C explains on one of the album's many skits, a 'king' is anyone that handles his business appropriately on the lyrical side of things, and many kings abound in southern rap. With such foraying display of bravado, T.I. has rightfully earned his membership to hip-hop's elite. Royal salute!" AllMusic writer Andy Kellman gave the album a 4.5 out of 5 praising the album's lead single "What You Know", and stating "T.I.'s fourth album isn't the leap forward he's been threatening to make, but it does carry the best set of productions he has been given to work with, and it guarantees that he won't be leaving the singles charts any time soon." Blender Magazine noted on T.I.'s status saying "Before his album sold a surprise half a million copies in its first week of release, T.I. was a Southern star who didn't quite feel like one: He made up with irresistible hooks what he lacked in personality. Now he's a national star who doesn't quite feel like one. A breezily charismatic drug rapper, he's like Jay-Z without the worldview, Young Jeezy without the gravitas; he still hasn't distinguished himself as an artist worth exploring past the singles. Thankfully, he's packed album No. 4 full of singles, which might be just as good. His sonorous, self-assured drawl adds an air of unflustered authority to his alpha brags, and he pours it into unexpected patterns. What he's best at is craft—woozy refrains and hypnotic rhyme schemes—and his fleet of beats is impeccable, highlighted by the four-minute epic 'What You Know,' which laces imperious synths with an intriguing wistfulness. Throughout, producers Just Blaze, Swizz Beatz and DJ Toomp back T.I.'s self-deifying spiels with wild bombast: he'd seem a lot less kingly if it weren't for his court."
Pitchfork stated "T.I. has always been a great rapper, warm and fluid and confident, his loose elastic voice winding under tracks with force and finesse. Before every other mainstream rapper was talking about drugs, he was doing it with a weary lived-in authority, proudly defiant and sheepishly defensive at the same time, bragging about getting money but lamenting the fact that he only had one way to do it. But great rappers don't always make great albums, and every one of T.I.'s previous full-lengths had a fatal flaw: desperate grabs at radio love, grossly insincere sex-jams, cobbled-together non-cohesion, or all three. Last summer, I thought Young Jeezy's Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101 (2005) was the album T.I. should've made. Young Jeezy isn't half the rapper that T.I. is, but his album-- stunning in its focus and monolithic swagger and deeply nihilistic in worldview-- had more cinematic sweep than anything his progenitor had ever done." Matt Cibula of PopMatters described the album as a stunning classic saying that "Clifford 'T.I.' Harris is one of America's greatest songwriters. I'm not just talking about hip-hop, either—even if you add in all the other genres that people go all gaga over, T.I. strides this narrow world like a colossus. No one is smarter, no one constructs tighter songs, and no one has more ways to score. This is proven over and over again on King. T.I. is the whole package: gritty, smooth, smart, dangerous, introspective, and wise. And while it's pretty early in 2006 to talk about albums of the year, this record says it's time to start talking." Stylus Magazine noted "T.I.'s path to a self-made mythology hinges not just on his ability to trumpet himself, but to make his locale and history vital. King, T.I.'s latest, proves, among other things, that his legacy is tied into his town, and his town, Atlanta, is the true Southern metropolis: primal, spiritual, refined, and delicate at the same time. New Orleans may have the painful religious symbolism, Memphis the working-class spirit, and Houston the expansive, halting sound, but Atlanta is the melting pot of bourgeoisie, aristocracy, and neighborhood hustlers. Lil Wayne may be the chaperone of this coast, but T.I. is the CFO. Song to song production is generally top-shelf. From barn-burning 'Top Back' to the slyly tender 'Gone,' every chime chimes when it's supposed to, every snare clacks right into place. Individually, Grand Hustle in-house rising star Toomp gobbles up the lion's share of the praise: the cataclysmic 'What You Know' and ostentatious 'Bankhead' both soar. Mannie Fresh and Just Blaze inlay T.I.'s lines with velveteen strings and swirling drums respectively. King isn't complacent enough to act like all the wars are fought and all the gods are dead; T.I. sees his legacy and city very much up for grabs. A city, a scene and his legacy are unfinished, and while King won't be T.I.'s last, or, hopefully, best section of his mosaic, it's the perfection of his aesthetic thus far."
The New York Times said the album had "Memorable refrains, hard beats, elegant rhymes: this album succeeds mainly by sticking to a simple but effective formula." Entertainment Weekly stated "Though long at 18 tracks, King still [has] plenty of heavyweight hits." The Village Voice's Makkada B. Selah opined that "Anyone disputing T.I.'s claim to the title 'King of the South' has been summarily silenced by the pageant King's release. The self-proclaimed Dick Cheney of rap showcases many styles, each track here is a multi-layered, highly nuanced production." Sputnikmusic's Joe Schmoh noted "T.I. has always been a prime example of an excellent mainstream rapper from the south. He exudes confidence with every single breath he breaths over the microphone, swinging comfortably from snare hit to snare hit like Tarzan of the beats. However, whether it's Ludacris, Rick Ross, or T.I., the problems are all the same. T.I. has no idea at all how to balance an album together. At least he didn't until he went towards recording King, an album whose title obviously aims towards magnum opus, a record that balances T.I.'s softer side done right with effortless gruff confidence placed on balling records. Basically, King shows T.I. ripping to his full potential. With women, he's evolved into this sort of country gentlemen, and he shows this over swelling, swollen synthesizers that make his softer side truly something to behold. And yet, it seems like what the real shine still are the bangers. Even the weak tracks sound strong due to T.I.'s superfluous confidence. Normally, records like this just sound like wastes of good beats, but T.I. serves these beats with pure swag and rhythmic ability. He doesn't even need to rhyme about anything important or relevant, he's got enough fun punchlines and self-confidence to cover that up. T.I. manages to spend the entire record outshining every single guest, making every beat his own, and even being respectful to the ladies as opposed to misogynistic. Overall, a triumph." The Austin Chronicle's Robert Gabriel stated "Respected from East to West like he was running the Mob, T.I. ascends the throne of rap regality on his fourth LP. Consistent as it is tenacious, King's effortless flow over top-grade beats comes courtesy of Mannie Fresh, Just Blaze, and DJ Toomp, and as the synth-laden 'What You Know' has already made the job of radio programmers that much easier, T.I.'s transcends flash-in-the-pan status with a swagger unmatched in hip-hop. T.I.'s Southern drawl bends pedestrian phrases into irresistible melodies hotter than the summer streets to come."
