T.I. - the KING

who loves T.I. Ти Ай (англ. T.I., наст. имя Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., род. 25 сентября 1980 г. в Атланте) — американский рэппер и продюсер хип-хоп -музыки. Первоначально писал тексты для других рэпперов, выступал вместе с командой P$C. T.I. has grown to truly be one of his generation’s most captivating speakers. Whether he's conversing frankly with a room full of youth about the positive side of staying in school and following their dreams, or moving tens of thousands at one of his concerts, audiences are immediately engrossed by the King of the South’s words. Later this summer, he promises to deliver his most potent and important LP to date, Paper Trail. “I’m not doing too much pre-hype on the album,” Tip says of his new project. “I just want everyone to know that it’s coming out in a few months and that I’m going to answer a lot of questions in the music. It’s intense and insightful; it’s gonna shake up the game and it’s me at my best.” Paper Trail’s title is a direct reference to T.I.’s return to literally writing down his lyrics -- a practice he hasn’t engaged in since his debut, I’m Serious, in 2001. Ironically, he found that going back to the basics has helped him evolve into a better MC. “I’ve had phenomenal success on my previous albums by just going in the booth, letting the music flow through me, and being spontaneous with it. This time I wanted to try something different. My writing is a little more structured and thought out, but it’s still art at the end of the day. It’s still free-flowing.” The new album’s first tease, “No Matter What,” is a definitive declaration of T.I.’s stance as a man undeterred and an artist unrivaled, as well as a testament of how his faith in a higher power helped him get through a very public period of turbulence in his life. “Somehow I rise above my problems and remain here,” the hip-hop veteran raps. “Yeah, and I hope the picture painted clear./ If your heart’s filled with faith then you can’t fear./ Wonder how I face years and I'm still chillin’./ Easy, let go and let God deal with it.” In November of 2007, T.I. was arrested on firearms possession charges. Subsequently, he was placed under house arrest for almost seven months. Earlier this year, Tip plead guilty and he faces sentencing next year. He has also been ordered to serve over 1500 hours of community service. “Obviously that was one of the worst mistakes of my entire life, but I will not let that mistake characterize my existence or my contribution to society,” says T.I. “I cannot go back and change the past but I can learn from it, and teach others how a poor assessment of a situation can not only affect you drastically but also impact the ones you love. It’s something that I still have to deal with.” There will never be a quandary too large to make T.I. give up hope. The King of the South has made the pledge to himself, his family, and his fans to always hold his head high and persevere through any predicament -- whether it be persecution, prosecution, or the lost of loved ones. Another emotive moment on Paper Trail is “My Life, Your Entertainment.” The King talks about some of the consequences of being a high-profile celebrity and candidly speaking MC. The public gets to see both your joys and your grief played out right in front of their eyes: “My life, your entertainment./ My sorrow, your amusement./ Laugh at my pain and anguish./ So famous I could lose it." Paper Trail isn’t a musical doctrine filled only with harrowing experiences, however. What would a King be without celebratory anthems… especially The King of the South, who has always served anthems for the clubs and streets in addition to mindful fodder in his body of work. “I really like ‘Turn My Beat Down,’” Tip notes. “It’s a song where I bring a certain amount of braggadocio about riding through your area with my music at maximum volume and loving life. As you’ll hear with this song and throughout the album, I have some unconventional beat