Having interviewed T.I. twice this year, once by phone and once in-person, I know for afact that this highly talented artist is also an intelligent, thoughtful individual. So his arrest in Atlanta this weekend on an array of serious gun charges really disturbed me. According to the federal complaint against him (link leads to a PDF), T.I. allegedly tried to buy several unregistered machine guns and silencers; the feds also allegedly found a whole bunch of other weapons in his car and his home. As a convicted felon — he was imprisoned on drug charges almost 10 years ago, before his recording career began — T.I. should surely have known that Georgia law prohibited him from owning any of those firearms, even if they had been registered. It’s very important for us to remember that T.I. is innocent until proven guilty,and hopefully, this is all just some sort of misunderstanding, but things aren’t looking too goodright now. If the charges are true, how could someone so smart do something so foolish and self-destructive?
There are surely some who will use T.I.’s arrest as a way of excoriating his music. After all, they’ll say, didn’t he rap about toting guns all the time? I’m an inveterate defender of rap against its kneejerk mainstream foes, but even I can’t deny that these allegations make me less comfortable about the times when T.I.’s songs (like a lot of other American pop culture in many genres and media) seemed to glorify violence. Sure, it’s still just art, but I’d be lying if I said I could watch his (NSFW) video for current single "Hurt" without wincing now.
There’s a sad irony here in the fact that T.I. just made an entire album about these very issues. This summer’s T.I. vs. T.I.P.— still one of the year’s best rap releases, for my money — was allabout how hard it was for him to control the scary, aggressive impulseswhich he personified as an alter ego called "Tip" or "T.I.P." Thisspring, he said the album reflected an internal crisis he was facing inreal life: Even as he became the world-class star known as T.I., partof him still thought like a tough guy. "I’ve been Tip all my life," hetold me. "Whereas T.I. is a character or a personality that had to beassumed in order for me to conduct business in an upstanding way.There’s no way I could have assumed the levels of success that I havenow being totally Tip." Now that backstory feels like more than a cannypromotion strategy.
He also talked a lot about how he almost didn’t make that album.Last year, T.I. losthis best friend, Philant Johnson, to senseless gunviolence. Johnson was murdered right in front of him — an extremelytraumatic event, needless tosay, which T.I. said gave him crippling writer’s block and led him toquestion his purpose in life. "Phil died, and after that I didn’t wantto record at all," he told me. "I didn’t want to do nothing." Afterthat awful incident, he of all peopleshould have known about the risks involved with guns. If the federalcharges are true and he somehow thought that more weapons would keephim safe, he must be dealing with some very real and veryunderstandable pain. Given that we’re talking about alleged gunpossession and not, thankfully, an actual act of violence, maybe it’snot too late for him to get some help. It would be a real shame to losesuch an inspired musician to his own personal demons.
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Either I’m really old or just completely unhip. I’ve never heard of this guy.
I’m honestly just as confused and flabbergasted as you are. I was proud of T.I for being an sweet, intelligent, cute hip hop star. While he’s innocent until proven guilty, I’m so sick of black men who have achieved everything they could ever want completely screwing it up because of blatant stupidity (I’m staring at you too, Michael Vick). It’s so frustrating. I sincerely hope this is a misunderstanding, but I’m not holding my breath.
last year i worked the super bowl in miami for a TV station and chauffers from all over the south came because of the demand. i met the nicest driver from atlanta and inbetween picking up athletes we talked and he’d driven tons of celebs. he said no driver in atlanta would take TI because he would load up the back w/ so many guys no matter where he was going. when i saw the headline “TI Arrested”, i said to everyone in the room “guns”.
Yikes. I thought T.I. of all rappers had some common sense compared to the crop of them, especially since he devoted some of his recent songs to his friend who got slain in 2006. You think that would be a wake up call not to do idiotic moves, but I guess he didn’t exactly take that advice to heart. I echo Rasha’s sentiments and surprised at what ‘in the know’ just revealed. As for Jill, I guess if you’re not an avid fan of rap, you probably wouldn’t know him. T.I.’s not very outspoken like 50 Cent or Kanye West, so it’s easier to ignore him among the crop of recent rappers. He’s actually been around for a little while though (since 2002/2003 I think).
Usually I’d go off on Simon for some senseless post, but was one of the bigger stories of the weekend. I’m especially saddened about all this because like Simon said (haha, that was not intentional) T.I. is a very humble interviewee & comes across as respectable & honest. Yeah, any kind of illegal action against an already convicted felon will lead to numerous legal woes, but I read elsewhere he was denied bail today and is going to be detained til his next hearing this Friday, which coincidentially I was supposed to catch him performing Fri night here in Philly for urban radio station WUSL FM’s annual PowerHouse Concert along with Kanye West, Rihanna, Eve, Akon, NeYo and more. I DOUBT T.I.’ll be performing but I wish him the best of luck!
I won’t comment on what he was thinking, b/c I have no idea. I can just make a safe bet that the rap and hip hop industry will be crucified. And something tells me the movie “The Brave One” will be brought up. An entire industry should not be questioned b/c of one person’s actions, especially when they don’t necessarily speak on behalf of other artists.
But we love it when inspired artists are devoured by their personal demons. It’s entertaining. And we must be entertained.
Lets all hope he’s innocent in the name of god.
This whole scandal brings up a lot of American themes: violence, masculinity, self-destructive celebrity culture, paranoia. Yeesh.
I give it a week until Al Sharpton is out in front of the camera
Now anyone can make a mistake. however, howmany times have the beastie boys been arrested for drug possession? How long was LL Cool J in jail for? Did Common ever get caught with an arsenal of weapons in his house? How kilos of cocaine did Kanye West, Mos Def or Talib Kweli sell?
that is my point. those who glorify that lifestyle. Live it and eventually suffer the consequences. and those who dont, you never see or hear about them. that is why i stopped listening to gangster/bling bling rap and stick it with old school and conscious rappers.
Good post.
I was suprised to hear about T.I.’s arrest, but at the same time, if you’re carrying that many guns… I dunno. Definitely seems to show the inner struggle isn’t just something on a record.
Wow a lowlife thug rapper gets busted doing lowlife thug activities. How shocking. I haven’t seen this same story play out in at LEAST 32 minutes, so it was due. But hey, he gives an articulate interview right?? That MUST mean he’s a good guy!! The only people saddened by this are those who let their expectations for those in the rap industry rise above 2 inches off the ground.
Stephen, I think Al Sharpton is going to keep himself and his relaxed head in Jena, trying to get Mychel Bell out of jail.
Sorry Simon, but simply because you interviewed TI a few times does NOT mean you know the guy is a thoughtful, intelligent guy. You can’t get to know someone simply because you interviewed him. All entertainers put on a mask; no one really knows what makes them tick.
I could care less about TI. he is just another ignorant thug getting locked up. They give hip hop a bad name when you have guys like Lupe Fiasco and The Roots who are intelligent. And guess what?! Also rap about intelligent things besides gats and crack.
I’m still amazed by people’s inability to grasp the fact that different qualities can co-exist in the same person. T.I. can be humble and respectful and intelligent and violent and a guy who buys machine guns with silencers even though he knows its illegal. None of those qualities cancels out the others, they occupy the same space at the same time.
I’m a T.I. fan, but doing stupid stuff like this doesn’t hurt me, it hurts him. If he gets locked up for it, well…he gets what he deserves. As much scrutiny as rappers get from law enforcement, he should know to keep his nose clean.
Also, I’d like to add, I like Common and Talib as much as the next guy, but wearing it as a badge of honor and being all holier-than-thou about it is really, really annoying.
I should start carrying around cookies with me at all times, so when somebody starts with “That’s why I listen to Kanye,” I can not only say “You want a cookie?”, I can actually hand them one.
Joshua – well said and it made me laugh, i need to get some cookies too..
All the other stuff that was said here has some weight too…people with inner demons will do some crazy ish..i mean, why would he need a gun? Can’t he get a bodygaurd with a gun? some things can’t be explained, it’s his cross to carry and we can only hope that one day people will stop feeling like they have go to the extreme to be safe….
“how could someone so smart do something so foolish and self-destructive?”
foolish and destructive like committing crimes and being a felon 10 years ago? or are you saying it’s only shocking now because he’s made millions rapping about committing crimes and being a felon.
gee i never saw it coming!
this is so sad he is a really talentedand smart guy i hope everything works out for the best you are in my thoughts and prayers
THE IMPORTANT ISSUE TO REMEMBER IS EVEN IF THIS WAS A SET UP WITH HIM BUYING THE GUNS. T.I. IS A CONVICTED FELON, WHICH MEANS HE CANNOT LEGALLY BUY A GUN OR EVEN BE ANYWHERE NEAR A GUN! IT DOESN’T MATTER IF HE WAS BUYING THEM FOR PROTECTION. HE SIMPLY CANNOT HAVE THEM POINT BLANK!
EVEN IF T.I. FOUND NOT GUILTY OF BUYING THE WEAPONS FROM THE A.T.F. AGENTS WHICH I’M SURE WAS A SET UP. THEY STILL CAN CHARGE HIM WITH THE GUNS FOUND IN HIS VEHICLE, THE 1/2 POUND OF WEED AND THE GUNS FOUND IN HIS HOME EVEN IF THE GUNS IN HIS HOME WERE NOT HIS, AS A CONVICTED FELON, HE STILL IS NOT SUPPOSE TO BE ANYWHERE NEAR FIREARMS….
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmah babi nnnnnnnnnnno
i think that yeah he made a bad choice by doin all this stuff but at least hes man enough to admit he was wrong and that he accepts his consicues i think every one is acceoted one big mess up in there life
oh my gosh,t.i was my favorite pop star i can`t still believe he did something like this.