King Uncaged

Rapper, producer, actor and entrepreneur T.I. is back in the studio and back with ASCAP

By Lavinia Jones Wright
with additional reporting by Blake Rascoe

A big year can mean a lot of things to an artist. Hit records make big years. So do tours, deals, films and new ventures. But controversies also make big years, the kind of big that can seem insurmountable. The mark of a good artist is how they handle their big years. If they have the talent and the integrity, they prove themselves when they can sustain the success of a big year, or bounce back from a fall and turn the worst times into something valuable.

To say that this year has been a big one for T.I. is in so many ways an understatement. The self-dubbed “King” of Southern Hip-Hop has had to earn back his throne after a yearlong prison sentence relating to weapons charges – of which he served ten months - held him partially out of the limelight. But he is determined to spin his experience into gold, to offset the lows with some of the highest highs of his career and his life. As the first singles from his upcoming King Uncaged climb the charts, T.I. reminds the world that he should be, and is, known for his talents and forgiven for his mistakes.

T.I. is no stranger to the hard-earned climb to the top. He’s pulled it off before, first channeling his tough upbringing on the streets of Atlanta’s eastside into a raw and electrifying performance style, and debut record I’m Serious, and smoothing out the rough edges of the street with his steady and charming demeanor. He fought his way up again, in 2003, when he formed Grand Hustle Records and partnered with Atlantic to release his sophomore full-length Trap Muzik after his first label, Arista Records, hastily dropped him.

Trap Muzik went Platinum, as did T.I.’s next four studio albums. And in 2008 he scored his first number one single with “Whatever You Like” from his now double Platinum Paper Trail. The album also delivered another number one hit “Live Your Life,” which features Barbadian chanteuse Rihanna, and the number two smash “Dead and Gone,” featuring Justin Timberlake. Between 2001 and ’08 T.I. positioned himself as one of the hottest rappers in the history of the game. He earned Grammys for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (“Swagga Like Us”), Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (“My Love”) and Best Rap Solo Performance (“What You Know”). He made beats for artists like Mariah Carey and B.o.B., earned songwriting credits from Diddy, Dr. Dre and Bow Wow, executive produced the sountrack to the film Hustle & Flow and appeared in the films ATL and American Gangsta. He even opened his own nightclub, Club Crucial, in Atlanta, and was listed as one of the top 20 Hiphop Cash Kings by ForbesMagazine.

But as T.I.’s talent put his career on top of the world, personal tragedy threatened to drag him back down. In May of 2006, Philant Johnson, longtime friend and personal assistant to T.I., was fatally wounded and three others were injured when the rapper’s entourage was attacked following a show in Cincinnati. The event left T.I. scarred, and as he told Larry King in his first interview following release from prison this year, in many ways led to his damaging decisions.

In the first single from King Uncaged, the aptly titled “I’m Back,” T.I. addresses the world at large, his fans, friends and foes alike. He isn’t going to miss a step returning to his rightful spot at the top of the charts, because nothing that has happened can erase the fact that he is still at the top of his game. He has said that he is chastened by everything that has happened to him, good and bad. His experiences in community service have shown him the real effects of every decision, and his continued success teaches us all a lesson in redemption. As we eagerly await the release of King Uncaged this September, we are beyond excited to welcome T.I. back home to ASCAP.