T.I.’s Big Promise
The self-proclaimed King Of The South on beating the odds and delivering a three-part album
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. really shouldn’t be here right now. The odds of someone with a past like his suggest that he shouldn’t have released his ninth studio album this week. Yet, T.I. presents Paperwork, in an era when most rappers flounder to have a discography that extends past three LPs and/or five years. Throughout his tenure, “Tip” (as he is affectionately known) has overcome hurdles and dodged bullets, still remaining as relevant as ever.
It wasn’t all that long ago when rap fans doubted the cavalier Atlanta rapper. In 2001, he boldly crowned himself “King of the South,” despite fellow southerners such as Ludacris, OutKast, Scarface, and a host of others being more established heirs to the throne. Nevertheless, he threw his tilted brim into the arena and laid claim to the distinction before ever releasing an album. His hubris could have worked against him, leading to career suicide. However, the artist formally known as T.I.P. has a superpower that allows him to speak ideas into existence. With eight albums, ten mixtapes, over one hundred singles, four movies (with two more on the way, including a role in Marvel’s Ant Man), two reality TV shows, and a slew of accolades under his belt, the cocksure rapper has silenced the naysayers and proven that he wasn’t lying when the title of his 2001 debut album told us I’m Serious.
“I always had goals set for myself,” T.I. tells Cuepoint, as he slumps back into a black sofa chair inside of his Akoo clothing line’s booth at the Agenda Trade Show in Las Vegas. Just outside of the enclosure, convention attendees try to capture a glimpse of the slender MC, who still looks like he belongs on a college campus, despite his 33 years on this planet. The furor outside doesn’t break his train of thought, as he looks back at some of his earliest accomplishments during his 14-year career—from getting a gold plaque on the first major label song he released (“2 Glock 9’s” from the 2000 Shaft remake soundtrack) to seeing his videos on MTV’s now defunct Total Request Live countdown show.
“Setting those milestones and achieving them is the key to success,” he says after spending several minutes running down every single one of his goals that he has reached. “That’s how you remain hungry. If you don’t set a new goal after you accomplish a previous goal, you will become complacent and stagnant. I always have something to prove.”
Today T.I. continues to set overly ambitious goals for his music career and revels in proving people wrong. He’s already sold millions of records, arguably earned the self-appointed “King of the South” crown, has built his own record label and nurtured hugely successful talents such as B.o.B. and Iggy Azalea. So what’s next?
Back in May, T.I. revealed his elephantine plans for Paperwork: The Motion Picture.
“What me, Pharrell, Columbia, Hustle Gang, what we trying to do, man… we trying to now make the album a trilogy, but to be released in a 12-month period,” T.I. said during an interview with Big Tigger on Atlanta’s V-103. “Three albums in 12 months and a movie to finalize it. In 12 months, the film should be shot, and we should be presenting it in grand fashion, as we always do.”
Five months have passed since the audacious announcement and Tip says those plans are still intact, with the first installment of the Paperwork album arriving this week, and the second and third volumes, The Return and Love & Liability, already titled. Paperwork is his first project on Columbia since departing from Atlantic, with Pharrell Williams executive producing. Collaborators on the album include former rival, Jeezy, on “G Shit,” as well as industry staples such as Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Usher, and The-Dream, along with rising talents Young Thug and Iggy Azalea. T.I. is excited about the album being overseen by Pharrell and believes that this is his most idiosyncratic project to date.
“Pharrell offers a very diverse look at art,” T.I. reveals, while citing that the album redefines the sound of southern trap music by offering a more soulful dynamic. He has even gone as far as to suggest that its musical aesthetic is on par with Jay Z’s The Blueprint and OutKast’s Aquemini. That canvas comes courtesy of Pharrell’s growth as an auteur and producer over the past couple of years. “He’s extremely daring, and I think that in itself is important to this album. He lives by an example of being different.”
This is not the first time we have heard an artist proclaim that they would attempt to release multiple albums in a truncated timeframe. While the concept of album trilogies isn’t completely arcane, the idea of releasing them within a twelve-month period is a steep mountain to scale. In times past, De La Soul, Erykah Badu, and Maxwell were unable to follow through with their boasts of album trilogies. E-40 has accomplished the feat by releasing multiple albums simultaneously, but didn’t have a major label to answer to. Regardless, T.I. believes that he can fulfill that contract with his audience.
“The music spread so much that I had no way to deliver it all at once, so we had to break it down into three projects,” the Grand Hustle artist explains about his approach. He argues that the music he has recorded is so diverse that he would have a consistency issue if it were stuffed into one album.
“All the albums are completed. The only challenge now is timing,” he says when asked about the complication of releasing the trilogy. He slightly backs off of his stance when asked if he’s positive that we will see all three albums in a calendar year. However, with over 500 songs recorded, the rationale wouldn’t be because the music is not there. The only thing that he believes could throw a monkey wrench into his plans is being “too successful.”
“If the success of the first album causes me to work more singles then that would take more time and prolong the release of the second album,” he continues. “It really just depends. The albums are more or less done, but I record all the time. So if something I record tomorrow pushes out something I recorded yesterday, so be it.”
The seasoned talent looks around to see if anyone is listening and leans in close as a sly grin stretches across his face. “But you know better than to doubt me.”
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. might not be here right now if his past transgressions had different outcomes. He realizes that the chips could have fallen in a different way and resulted in an early death, or at the very least, being incarcerated for most of his life. It’s not too far-fetched to think that the drug-dealing, street corner hustler-turned-rap-mogul could have had his life cut short, and the world would have never known of T.I.
Highly publicized federal weapons and drug charges resulted in two terms in county jail while at the peak of his career. The federal weapons charge found T.I. sentenced to one year in prison in 2009, followed by an 11 month sentence in 2010 for parole violation. The death of his friend Philant Johnson during a 2006 shootout in Ohio could have very well claimed his life as well. His recent physical altercations with Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas and a standoff against the LAPD alongside fellow rapper Game at LA’s Supperclub venue paint another side of the rapper who has otherwise worked to maintain a positive image. Events like those shape title of his late 2012 LP, Trouble Man, borrowed from the highly influential Marvin Gaye soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film. Although he’s not proud of his errors, he would prefer that people are aware of the shades of gray between the positive and negative aspects of his life.
“It’s important for me to have an image of reality; and if that image of reality is also positive, that’s a plus,” he says when discussing being an imperfect, unpolished role model. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not just going to broadcast ignorance or blatant negativity. But I’m not going to make myself to appear more positive than I actually am just for that purpose.”
The image of reality that T.I. projects is the full embodiment of the catchphrase “two steps forward, one step back” because for every positive move he has made in his career, the Atlanta rapper always seems to find himself in a bit of hot water.
As candid as T.I. has been about his troubled past before he entered the rap game, his more recent transgressions are shuttered swiftly by the rapper during interviews. Most of the time, T.I. acts oblivious to the incident in question. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Harris told TMZ when asked about the epic fight and standoff with the LAPD outside of Supperclub. He takes the same indignant tone when asked about an on-camera altercation with Floyd Mayweather at a Fatburger on the Las Vegas strip.
“Whatever did happen—if anything did happen—he may be used to talking after his fights; where I’m from, we don’t talk after ours.”
In this conversation, the Grand Hustler rapper was clearly uninterested in discussing any of his indiscretions. “I’m not trying to get caught up in the past,” he said while waving his hand dismissively. “I’m just trying to move forward.”
Regardless of his past, he has certainly come a long way from being a fourteen-year-old who had been arrested multiple times. Today, T.I. is a family man and an astute entrepreneur who is responsible for more than just his own success.
“I think that fundamentally I have remained the same,” he says about his growth. “However, the intricate details of my approach and ideologies are different. Any man with a true obligation to anyone aside from themselves has to be affected.”
One of his many obligations has to do with speaking up on the alarming rate of young, unarmed black men being killed by police. While the topic of police brutality is nothing new to the hip-hop community, the uprising in Ferguson, Missouri and the way that teenager Michael Brown’s death has been handled echoes the deaths of Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Sean Bell, and a litany of others, to the point where it has become impossible to ignore. Recognizing the significance of his voice, T.I. has made it a point to speak out on the issue in hopes of seeing a unified effort that results in change.
“To America, it is simple: You created a monster that you have been trying to ignore forever, and now that monster has grown vicious and hostile and refuses to be ignored.”
Tip’s new single, “New National Anthem,” finds him in rare form and is arguably the most politically-charged song he has ever recorded. The Skylar Grey-assisted track is an antagonistic look at America’s culture of violence, systematic racism, and a retort to the devaluation of the African-American male.
“If you really just look back at the consistent antagonizing nature that America treats the young black male it’s been going on well before Ferguson,” he laments, the serious tone in his voice apparent. “It is hard to expect any nation or generation of people to continue to be blatantly disrespected. With lives lost and cast aside as they have with tones of inferiority, at some point there is going to be some sort of a reaction. What it is, who knows.”
With four sons, a daughter and stepdaughter of his own to watch over, T.I. understands the significance of what is taking place across the country and his responsibility as a hip-hop artist to be a voice to rally those who feel oppressed.
No, Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. shouldn’t be here; yet he is. If nothing else, he wants us to learn from his victories, just as much as we can from his failures.
Follow Andreas Hale on Twitter @AndreasHale
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