RAPPERS HISTORY

Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. (born September 25, 1980), better known by his stage name T.I., and also by his alter ego T.I.P., is a Grammy Award-winning American rapper, songwriter, producer, actor and co-CEO of Grand Hustle Records.[1] As of March 2009, T.I. has had ten Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles, with three of them reaching number one ("My Love" with Justin Timberlake, "Whatever You Like", and "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna).Contents [hide]
1 Biography
1.1 Early life and career beginnings
1.2 2001–2002: Debut album
1.3 2003–2005: Trap Muzik and Urban Legend
1.4 2006–2007: Breakthrough success and federal weapons charges
1.5 2008–present: Trial and Paper Trail
2 Other ventures
2.1 Acting career
2.2 Producing
2.3 Television producing
3 Controversy
3.1 Lil' Flip
3.2 Chaka Zulu
3.3 Shawty Lo
4 Personal life
4.1 Legal issues
4.2 Community work
5 Discography
6 Filmography
6.1 Television
6.2 Films
7 See also
8 References
9 External links

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

T.I. was born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. on September 25, 1980, in Bankhead, Atlanta, Georgia.[2] He was raised by his grandparents and was a drug dealer as a teenager.[3] T.I. explained the origin of his nickname Rubber Band Man, saying, "We used to wear rubber bands to signify how much money, how much blow we had."[4] He was nicknamed "Tip" after his paternal great-grandfather.[5] Kawan "KP" Prather, a record executive, discovered and signed T.I. when he was a teenager.[6] Upon signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 2001, he shortened his name to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip.[7]

2001–2002: Debut album

T.I. released his debut album, I'm Serious, in October 2001 through Arista Records, which spawned the single of the same title which featured reggae musician Beenie Man. His debut album included Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes (who named him the Jay-Z of the south),[8] Jazze Pha, and Youngbloodz. Production was by The Neptunes, DJ Toomp, Madvac, and The Grand Hustle Team. The album peaked at number 98 and sold 163,000 copies in the United States.[9] Due to poor sales, T.I. asked for a joint venture deal with Arista or to be let out of his contract; he was subsequently dropped from the label.[10][11]

T.I. released the first single "I'm Serious" with Beenie Man. The single had little airplay and failed to chart. The label would not release another single or video for the album, so T.I. created a video for "Dope Boyz", which had not a video nor single released, but can be seen on YouTube.

He released several mixtapes with the assistance of DJ Drama, which created an underground buzz. He resurfaced in the summer of 2003 on Bone Crusher's song "Never Scared".

2003–2005: Trap Muzik and Urban Legend

T.I. released Trap Muzik in the summer 2003 through Grand Hustle Records and debuted at number four and sold 109,000 copies in its first week.[12] It spawned the singles "24s", "Be Easy", "Rubberband Man", and "Let's Get Away". The album featured guest appearances by Eightball & MJG, Jazze Pha, Bun B and Macboney and producers include Jazze Pha, Kanye West, David Banner, Madvac and DJ Toomp. The success of the album was followed by some controversy; while on tour, T.I. was charged with violating his probation over a 2003 drug charge, and turned himself in. He was sentenced to three years in prison. While there, he was granted rights to film the music video for "Let's Get Away". It sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. and was certified Platinum by the RIAA.[13]

T.I. released his third album Urban Legend in late 2004. His first single is "Bring 'Em Out", having much success. His second single is "U Don't Know Me". His third single "ASAP" reached number 75 on the U.S. charts,[14] number 18 on the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop charts[14] and number 14 on the Rap chart.[14] T.I. created a video for "ASAP"/"Motivation". However, "Motivation" only made it to number 62 the U.S. R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart,[14] but not on the other charts like "ASAP."

In 2006, T.I. received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Song Collaboration ("Soldier" w/ Destiny's Child & Lil Wayne) and Best Rap Solo Performance for "U Don't Know Me" at The 48th Grammy Awards.

2006–2007: Breakthrough success and federal weapons charges

His fourth album, King debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart in the first half of 2006, selling 522,000 copies in its first week.[15] T.I. released his promo-singles "Front Back" and "Ride with Me" before the album's release date. The singles had small attention, but it helped promote the album and his debut movie ATL. The album also included other singles, "What You Know," "Why You Wanna," "Live in the Sky," and a remix of "Top Back." King earned numerous awards and nominations including a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album.

"What You Know" won a "Best Rap Solo Performance" and was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 49th Grammy Awards.[16]

T.I. collaborated with Justin Timberlake for "My Love," which proved to be a worldwide hit. It earned him a Grammy Award for Best Collaboration with Justin Timberlake at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards.[16]

T.I. released his fifth album T.I. vs. T.I.P. on July 3, 2007. The first single from the album was "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" which was produced by Mannie Fresh and was released to radio stations on April 17, 2007. T.I. released a second single "You Know What It Is," featuring Wyclef Jean, on June 12, 2007.

T.I. vs. T.I.P. sold 468,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The Grand Hustle/Atlantic set is T.I.'s second chart-topper in the past year-and-a-half; King opened at number one on the Billboard 200 with 522,000 copies in late March 2006.[17] The album included guests by Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean, Nelly, and Eminem with productions by Eminem, Jeff Bass, Mannie Fresh, Grand Hustle, The Runners, Just Blaze, Wyclef Jean and Danja. This is his first album without production by long time producer DJ Toomp or The Neptunes. In October 2007, T.I. released his third single, "Hurt," featuring Busta Rhymes & Alfamega.

On October 13, 2007, federal authorities arrested T.I. four hours before the BET Hip-Hop Awards.[18] He was charged with two felonies — possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. The arrest was made in the parking lot of a downtown shopping center, which a witness identified as the Walgreens drug store at the corner of North and Piedmont Avenues. Harris was arrested after allegedly trying to purchase the guns from a "cooperating witness" with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. According to federal officials, the witness had been cooperating with authorities since Wednesday, when he was arrested on charges of trying to purchase guns from a federal agent. The witness had been working as Harris' bodyguard since July, authorities said.[19][20] T.I. walked out of the Atlanta United States District Court after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan J. Baverman on October 26, 2007. Judge Alan J. Baverman required T.I. post a $3 million bond, $2 million in cash and $1 million in equity on property he owns. The rapper was required to remain at home except for medical appointments and court appearances. The only people allowed to live with him were his girlfriend and children. Visitors were required to be approved by the court.

2008–present: Trial and Paper Trail

T.I.'s suppression hearing was originally stated for January 3, 2008; however, U.S. Magistrate Alan J. Baverman pushed back the suppression hearing until February 19, 2008. The performer later pleaded guilty to U.S. federal weapons charges. He was sentenced to an undefined prison sentence, a year of house arrest and 1,500 hours of community service.[21] In an interview with MTV about serving jail time, T.I. stated, "Presumably, while I'm there, I'll be able to strategize my comeback." He went on to say that he would not "just be sitting still doing nothing".[22] "Whatever You Like" (2008)

T.I.'s second single from his sixth studio album Paper Trail.

Problems listening to this file? See media help.

While under house arrest, T.I. began writing lyrics down on paper for his following album.[23] He released his sixth album, Paper Trail, in September 2008. The title of the album refers to the lyrics he had written down on paper. Like many other rappers, T.I. abandoned this style of rapping after his debut album I'm Serious by just memorizing lyrics. His representative explain that T.I. wanted to "take more time to really put something down [this time]".[24] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 selling 568,000 copies in the United States.[25]

The first promotional single from the album, "No Matter What," was released in April 2008. The music video was released on June 2008 on MTV's FN Premieres. The second promotional single was "Swing Ya Rag" which was produced by and featured Swizz Beatz.[26] The official lead single was "Whatever You Like," was released on July 2008, and became his most successful single of his career so far, breaking the record for the highest jump to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, jumping from number 71 to number one. It is T.I.'s first solo number one on the chart. The second single, "Swagga Like Us", featuring Kanye West, Jay-Z and Lil Wayne, debuted and peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. With the third single "Live Your Life" featuring Rihanna, T.I. broke his own record on the Billboard Hot 100 when it jumped from number 80 to the number one.[25] The fourth single "Dead and Gone", featuring Justin Timberlake, peaked at number two for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100.

In March 2009, T.I. was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay a $100,300 fine for the felony weapons charges, which will begin no sooner than May 19, 2009.[27] When released from prison, he will be subject to an audit of his finances, drug counseling, DNA testing, random searches of his property and will not be able to own firearms.[28]

Other ventures

Acting career

In 2006 T.I. starred in his first film, ATL. The other cast members included Lauren London, Antoine Patton, Evan Ross, Mykelti Williamson, Jason Weaver, and Keith David. The movie was written by Tina Gordon Chism and Antwone Fisher, produced by Timothy M. Bourne, Tionne Watkins, and Will Smith, and directed by Christopher Robinson. T.I. played the character Rashad Swann, an orphaned 17-year-old senior in high school. In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $11.5 million, ranking third in the United States box office, and went on to gross $21.2 million.[29]

T.I. also appeared in American Gangster with fellow rappers Common and RZA.[30] and was featured on the soundtrack.[31]

According to HHNLive.com T.I. revealed that he is launching Grand Hustle Films. The first project from the movie division of his Grand Hustle brand is titled Once Was Lost. T.I. will star in the film alongside veteran Hollywood actor Danny Glover, who will also act as producer. Filming is scheduled to begin in October 2008.[32]

In September 2008, T.I. appeared as himself in the Entourage episode "The All Out Fall Out" as one of Ari Gold's clients.

Producing

T.I. was co-executive producer of B.G.'s upcoming album and making beats for artists like Mariah Carey, Cassidy, Rick Ross, Maino, B.o.B., Yung Joc, Young Dro, and himself.[33] He also executive produced the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow and released the collection through his record label.[34]

Television producing

Late 2007, T.I. linked up with Los Angeles based production company 828 Entertainment to executive produce a new reality show titled Life on Mars which chronicles the life of young prodigy music producer LaMar "MARS" Edwards.[35][36] T.I. partnered 828 Entertainment with his company Grand Hustle Records to produce a slate of both television and film projects. He also created a reality show on MTV called "T.I.'s Road to Redemption"

Controversy

Lil' Flip

According to AllHipHop,[37] T.I. and Lil' Flip had an altercation in Lil' Flip's neighborhood, the Cloverland section of Houston. It has been said that T.I. went there to create a DVD exposing Lil' Flip to be a fraud. When T.I. went to Cloverland with his entourage, he was met by Flip and his people. Then it was said a fight broke out with the two sets with Lil' Flip swinging on T.I. until one of T.I.'s body guards started shooting. The same day T.I. went on a Houston, Texas radio station talking about the altercation. He revealed that he had the tape and he was going to release it with an upcoming mixtape, but that didn't happen due to the fact that J. Prince stopped him from distributing the tape. It is unknown whether T.I. still has the tape or not. The feud was squashed by Rap-A-Lot's J. Prince after having them sit down and resolve their feud. The feud was documented by the Houston Press.[38]

Chaka Zulu

On June 24, 2007 at the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, California, T.I. was involved in a brawl. During a luncheon held by Kevin Liles of Warner Music Group (parent company of T.I.'s label, Atlantic Records), the MC got into a fight with Ludacris' manager Chaka Zulu. According to witnesses, T.I. punched Zulu in the face and choked him and a small, brief melee ensued.[39]

T.I. brought home the award for Best Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards, and took the opportunity to apologize for his scuffle with Disturbing tha Peace executive Chaka Zulu earlier in the week. While accepting his award, he expressed regret over the situation. "They say it's a fine line between brilliance and insanity," he said, in an apparent reference to his troublesome alter ego, T.I.P. During the broadcast, cameras showed his onetime rival Ludacris smiling in the audience. The audience stood up and clapped for T.I.[40]

Shawty Lo

In 2008, T.I. was involved in a highly publicized feud with Shawty Lo.

The feud was characterized by Shawty Lo's track Dunn Dunn, and T.I.'s reply What Up, What's Haapnin. The song Dunn Dunn appears to question T.I.'s roots in Bankhead. The music video for What Up, What's Haapnin was shot in Shawty Lo's housing project Bowen Homes, an apparent diss towards Shawty Lo. In an interview, T.I. insisted that his song No Matter What was only partially aimed at Shawty Lo.[41]

The beef reached its climax at the November 2008 Dirty Awards where the entourages of both artists clashed during the ceremony, forcing it to be shut down.[42] Two incidents forced police to use pepper-spray and evacuate the audience.[43]

The beef was publicly squashed on March 7, 2009, when Shawty Lo and T.I. appeared on-stage together at Club Crucial in Bankhead, for T.I.'s farewell concert.[44][45] After this performance, T.I. gave an interview to MTV, in which he stated that the feud with Shawty Lo was exaggerated by the media, and was not a 'beef'.[46]

Personal life

T.I. has been in a relationship with former Xscape member Tameka "Tiny" Cottle since 2001.[5] Together, they have two sons: Clifford 'King' Joseph III and Major Philant. Their daughter, Llayah Amour, was stillborn six months into a complicated pregnancy.[47] He has two sons with ex-girlfriend Lashon Dixon: Domani Uriah and Messiah Ya'Majesty. T.I also has a daughter named Deyjah Imani from another relationship.[3][48]

Legal issues

T.I. was on probation stemming from a 1998 conviction for violating a state controlled substances act and for giving false information. After being released on probation, he earned a litany of probation violations in several counties around Georgia for offenses ranging from possession of a firearm to possession of marijuana.[49] In 2006, after appearing in an Atlanta court on (May 10) and having charges that he threatened a man outside a strip club last year dropped for lack of evidence, T.I. was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant from Florida. The warrant claimed that T.I. did not complete the required number of community service hours he was sentenced for a 2003 assault of a female sheriff deputy at University Mall in Tampa. T.I. was detained by several mall Security Guards at the time of the incident. According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the rapper’s attorney said that the problem was nothing more than a "technical matter" between Georgia and Florida. The confusion arose because T.I. was also sentenced to community service in Georgia for driving with a suspended license, for which he did complete 75 hours of community service in his home state. The rapper was released on bail shortly after being arrested, and was expected to surrender to Florida state authorities the following week to resolve the matter.[50]

On November 21, 2008, T.I. testified in the murder trial of a member of his entourage and a close friend, Philant Johnson (1980-2006), who was murdered in a shooting that occurred after a post-concert party at a club. The song "Dead and Gone" is about this murder.[51]

Community work

In addition to helping with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, T.I. worked with troubled youths at Paulding Detention Center in Atlanta, provided scholarships for single parent families at Boys and Girls Clubs, and headlined the Boost Mobile Rockcorps concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such performers as Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and Kanye West, and was held exclusively for community service volunteers. As part of his community service time, T.I. has come to a number of middle-grade and high schools in Georgia, where he speaks with the students in an assembly holding a positive message, while maintaining a philathropic view about morals and growing up in the same areas as himself. In June 2005, The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Foundation, named for the deceased member of multi-platinum female group TLC, and Atlanta's V-103 honored T.I. with the 2005 Lisa Lopes Award for groundbreaking achievements in music and community service which was court ordered. With this steady list of growing accomplishments T.I. is being recognized as the "Jay-Z of the South," according to Pharrell Williams of multi-platinum production team The Neptunes.[52]

T.I.'s night club, Club Crucial, hosted a giveaway of 200 bicycles to neighborhood children in the Boys and Girls Club with V-103 announcer Greg Street.[53]

Discography
Main article: T.I. discography
I'm Serious (2001)
Trap Muzik (2003)
Urban Legend (2004)
King (2006)
T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007)
Paper Trail (2008)
Seventh studio album (2010)[54]

Filmography

TelevisionYear Title Role Episode
2005 The O.C. Himself "The Return of the Nana" (season 2, episode 21)
Punk'd Himself Season 5, episode 4
2008 Entourage Himself "The All Out Fall Out" (season 5, episode 3)
2009 T.I.'s Road to Redemption Himself Starred in all episodes

FilmsYear Title Role
2006 ATL Rashad Swann
2007 American Gangster Stevie Lucas
2008 For Sale Omar Burgess
2010 Takers Ghost[55]

See also
List of artists who reached number one in the United States
List of awards and nominations received by T.I.
List of honorific titles in popular music

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