T.I.
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgia-based rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane. He met local music executive Kawan "KP" Prather in the late 1990s, joining his company Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment — an imprint of Arista and LaFace Records — by 1999. The lukewarm critical and commercial response of his debut studio album, I'm Serious, led him to part ways the label. He then signed with Atlantic Records and found mainstream success with his subsequent releases, co-founding his record label imprint, Grand Hustle Records, in 2003.
Harris gained recognition following his guest appearance on fellow Atlanta-based rapper Bone Crusher's 2003 single "Never Scared" — his first Billboard Hot 100 entry. His second album, Trap Muzik, peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 chart and spawned the top 40 singles "Rubber Band Man" and "Let's Get Away". The following year, Harris guest appeared alongside Lil Wayne on Destiny's Child's hit single "Soldier", and capitalized on this with the release of his third album, Urban Legend. His next three studio albums each debuted atop the Billboard 200; his fourth and fifth, King and T.I. vs. T.I.P., were led by the Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles, "What You Know" and "Big Shit Poppin' ", respectively.
Harris' sixth album, Paper Trail, yielded his furthest commercial success, receiving gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America in its first week. It spawned two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" ; the latter replaced the former atop the chart, and made Harris the first rapper to do so while occupying its top two positions. Following an eleven-month incarceration, his seventh album, No Mercy, witnessed a critical and commercial decline, rebounded by his eighth album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head. Harris also guest appeared alongside Pharrell Williams on Robin Thicke's 2013 single "Blurred Lines", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, and did so in 22 other countries.
The following year, his contract with Atlantic expired; he signed with Columbia Records and enlisted Williams as executive producer for his ninth studio album, Paperwork. As with his previous, it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical reception. The following year, he worked further with album collaborator and then-upcoming hometown native Young Thug to form the short-lived hip hop collective, Bankroll Mafia. He then signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2016 to release his political Us or Else extended play series and compilation album, We Want Smoke ; he later signed with Epic Records in 2018 to release his long-delayed tenth album, Dime Trap, in October of that year. His eleventh album, The L.I.B.R.A. was his first to be released independently. His twelfth and final album, Kill the King, is scheduled for release in 2026.
Harris, a three-time Grammy Award winner, has been described as a leading figure in hip hop and Southern hip hop during the 2000s. He has received 19 nominations for the award, as well as 12 Billboard Music Awards, three BET Awards, and two American Music Awards. Prominent industry artists have signed to T.I. through his Grand Hustle Records label since its formation, including Travis Scott, B.o.B, and Iggy Azalea. In his acting career, Harris has starred in the films ATL, Takers, Get Hard, Identity Thief, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man and its sequel, as well as the reality television series T.I.'s Road to Redemption, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle, and The Grand Hustle. As an author, he has published two novels: Power & Beauty and Trouble & Triumph. By the end of the decade, Billboard ranked him the 27th best artist of the 2000s.
Early life
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. was born on September 25, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Clifford "Buddy" Harris Sr. and Violeta Morgan. He was raised by his grandparents in Atlanta's Center Hill neighborhood just off Bankhead Highway and lived in Bankhead. His father lived in New York City, and he often went there to visit. Buddy suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died from the disease in 2002.Harris began rapping at age eight. His stage name originally came from his childhood nickname "Tip", after his paternal great-grandfather. He was once known as Rubber Band Man, a reference to the custom of wearing rubber bands around the wrist to denote wealth in terms of drugs or money.
Music career
1996–2000: Career beginnings
In 1996, T.I. befriended local rapper Big Kuntry King. Together they sold mixtapes out of the trunk of their car. Kawan "KP" Prather, a record executive, discovered T.I. and then signed him to his record label Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. Upon signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 1999, he shortened his name from Tip to T.I., out of respect for Arista label-mate Q-Tip. T.I. relays the situation as:2001–2002: Atlantic Records deal and ''I'm Serious''
T.I. released his debut album, I'm Serious, in October 2001 through Arista Records. The album spawned the single of the same name featuring Jamaican reggae artist Beenie Man on June 26, 2001. The single received little airplay and failed to chart. The album features guest appearances from his Southern hip hop group P$C, Jazze Pha, Too Short, Bone Crusher, Lil Jon, Pastor Troy and YoungBloodZ, as well as Pharrell Williams of American record production team The Neptunes, who called him "the Jay-Z of the South".The production for I'm Serious, was handled by The Neptunes, DJ Toomp, Madvac and The Grand Hustle Team. Despite the album's guests appearances and production team, the album peaked at number 98 and only sold 163,000 copies in the United States. Critics pointed to the fact that many of the tracks sounded the same and that a few were blatant rip-offs. Other critics commented saying, "T.I. claims to be the king of the South, but fails to show and prove. He does, however, have potential. If his talent ever matches his confidence, he may be headed for stardom."
Due to the poor commercial reception of the album, T.I. was dropped from Arista Records. He then formed Grand Hustle Entertainment and began releasing several mixtapes with the assistance of DJ Drama. He resurfaced in mid-2003, appearing on fellow Atlanta-based rapper and former label-mate Bone Crusher's hit single, "Never Scared". His mixtapes and mainstream exposure from "Never Scared", eventually recaptured major label attention and T.I. signed a joint venture deal with Atlantic Records.
2003–2004: ''Trap Muzik'' and ''Urban Legend''
T.I. released his second album Trap Muzik on August 19, 2003, through Grand Hustle Records. It debuted at number four and sold 109,000 copies in its first week. It spawned the singles "24s", "Be Easy", "Rubberband Man" and "Let's Get Away". The album features guest appearances from 8Ball & MJG, Jazze Pha, Bun B and Mac Boney. It was produced by Jazze Pha, Kanye West, David Banner, Madvac and DJ Toomp. Upon its release, Trap Muzik received generally favorable reviews from most music critics, who generally regarded it as a major improvement over his debut album, I'm Serious. This included Complex naming the album one of the classic albums of the last decade in 2012. In February 2013, allhiphop.com placed it as No. 5 as the best southern hip-hop album of all time.T.I. released his third studio album, Urban Legend, in November 2004. It debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, selling 193,000 copies in its first week. The album's lead single, "Bring Em Out", which was produced by Swizz Beatz, was released in January 2005 and became T.I.'s first top ten hit, peaking at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. The second single "U Don't Know Me" peaked at number twenty-three on the US Billboard Hot 100. His third single "ASAP" reached number 75 on the US charts, number 18 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop charts and number 14 on the Rap chart. T.I. filmed a dual music video for "ASAP" and "Motivation". "Motivation" only made it to number 62 on the US R&B/Hip-Hop singles chart. In 2004, T.I. was featured on Destiny's Child's hit single "Soldier", alongside New Orleans-bred rapper Lil Wayne, which peaked at number three on the Hot 100 chart.
2005–2006: P$C album, ''King'' and ''ATL''
In September 2005, T.I. teamed up with his Pimp $quad Click cohorts, Big Kuntry King, Mac Boney, C-Rod and AK, to release P$C's debut studio album, 25 to Life. The album, which was preceded by several self-released mixtapes by P$C, peaked at No.10 on the US Billboard 200 chart. The album was supported by the lead single "I'm a King", which was included on the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow, a collection released by T.I.'s label imprint Grand Hustle, under the aegis of Atlantic Records.T.I.'s 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. T.I. released "Front Back" and "Ride with Me" as promotional singles prior to the release of the album. The singles garnered little attention. The album's lead single "What You Know" became a hit in the U.S. and helped promote not only the album, but also ATL, the film T.I. starred in, that coincided with the album's release. The album also spawned the singles, "Why You Wanna", "Live in the Sky", and a remix of "Top Back", which was included on the Grand Hustle compilation album Grand Hustle Presents: In da Streetz Volume 4. King earned numerous awards and nominations including a Grammy Award nomination for Best Rap Album. He was featured on newly signed Grand Hustle artist Young Dro's debut single "Shoulder Lean", which reached the top ten on the U.S. Hot 100 and No. 1 on the U.S. Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot Rap Tracks.
"What You Know" won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance and was nominated for Best Rap Song at the 49th Grammy Awards. Also in 2006, T.I. collaborated with Justin Timberlake for "My Love", which proved to be a worldwide hit. It won a Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Timberlake at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, and won Best Male Hip-Hop Artist at the BET Awards for the second straight time. He then served as a featured performer on "We Takin' Over" by DJ Khaled, featuring Akon, Fat Joe, Rick Ross, Birdman and Lil Wayne.
In 2006, T.I. received two Grammy Award nominations for Best Song Collaboration and Best Rap Solo Performance for "U Don't Know Me" at the 48th Grammy Awards ceremony. In 2006 he won Rap Artist of the Year, Rap Album Of The Year, Rap Album Artist Of The Year, Rap Song Artist of the Year and Video Clip Artist of the Year on the Billboard Music Award and Best Male Hip-Hop Artist on the BET Awards.