The Foundations: T.I.

 The Foundations; an ongoing series highlighting legendary artists of the past with short breakdowns of their career and importance to contemporary hip-hop

Active: 1996-Present

Representing: Atlanta, Georgia

For Fans Of: Jay-Z, Bun B, Rick Ross, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, Lil Baby

        The connective tissue between the barren Dirty South of the 90’s and the intergalactic trap of the late-00's is very barren. While influenced by the same things that lead to creation of rap icons like Gucci and Jeezy (Project Pat, Cash Money Records, Master P, etc) T.I. in his musical choices borrowed more from Texas pioneers UGK and Memphis' 8Ball & MJG. Across his debut album I’m Serious you hear him imitate Scarface, Juvenile and Big Boi to near flawless execution. T.I. was a young knucklehead with multiple felony charges before he could legally buy blunts, mixed up in physical altercations, weapons charges and drug cases. Much like all Southern hustlers though he was a slick talker, smarter than his oversized tee would allow you to believe, and had a passion for sweet talking women as much as he did making money. He was Big Boi if he never met Dre, Scarface without the melancholy, 8Ball & MJG combined into a singular teen. He along with Gucci Mane solidified Cool Breeze’s invention of “trap music”, a subgenre of a country persuasion that turned the ups and downs of drug dealing into a blue collar job worth musing about. Whether it was blaring horns, lightspeed hi hats, bass that would knock your hat back straight or the sample free one shots and keys guiding the way, the beats were a digital evolution of the live instrumentation Outkast and UGK made a name off of. He rapped like talked, what he said didn’t matter as much as how he said it. With a textbook red clay road drawl sweeter than syrup he could break down his issues with other rappers, pull girls and remind you how street he was better than anyone without many frills. 

           After his debut flopped sales wise, Trap Muzik and Urban Legend were record breaking hits. “24’s”, “Bring Em Out” and “Rubberband Man”, “U Don’t Know Me”  were smashes. He had ironed out his character as the pretty boy dope pusher that everyone knew and loved. During this time he went on a mixtape tear with his group P$C and solo with DJ Drama helping set the foundation for the Gangsta Grillz empire. Drama would release albums with T.I.’s label Grand Hustle, a joint venture with Atlantic, the label that also later helped introduce the world to Travi$ Scott, B.o.B., Young Dro, Iggy Azalea, Spodee, and Doe B. Back to back albums that were breakout hits that solidified him as a real player in the game, and allowed his King Of The South claims to hold real merit. At this time Wayne & T.I. were both superstars, both from the South, both southern in every way. T.I. was taking the throne from Scarface by force, and while Wayne was becoming an accidental pop star, unfocused on just the Southern delegation. All of this was much to the chagrin of Lil Flip, a Texas rapper who was relentless in attacking T.I. for his claims. Flip was trying to make a name off dissing the King in waiting, only to be buried and remembered as a jester who never saw his own potential come through. T.I. would also fight off in his career Shawty Lo, Ludacris, Rick Ross (sort of) and live through tensions with Gucci Mane over who the true originator of trap music really was, and who the King Of Atlanta was (which during most of T.I.’s reign as King Of The South, Jeezy and Gucci went back and forth holding the Atlanta heavyweight belt. Again, there’s levels to this, and only for moments would Jeezy take the Throne from T.I.). T.I.’s early career was defined by deeply Southern lead singles that would run the streets and the radio equally, a fat free tracklist on each album, and a balance of charisma and street cred that was untouchable. This all came together on his magnum opus King, a record still full of hatred towards Flip, but equally fueled by “What You Know” a DJ Toomp production that destroys subwoofers to this day. The production and concepts were varied, the features fit in neatly to T.I.s slick talk. The album spawned him starring in ATL, one of the great coming of age movies of its time (and the single best roller skating movie in existence). He helped convince Creeds lead singer Scott Stapp to not commit suicide at a Miami hotel. 2006 as a whole was the peak of T.I. 

     In the years post-KING his career would take a dark turn personally. Multiple prison sentences, the most well known coming the afternoon before the ‘07 BET Awards in Atlanta. He was caught attempting to buy unregistered guns and silencers from his bodyguard who had turned state. In the raid of his home he was found with 8 unregistered guns of multiple types, silencers, and an arsenal of ammo. While on house arrest before his formal sentencing T.I. would record Paper Trail, a commercial juggernaut centered around pop rap crossover records. “Dead And Gone”, “Live Your Life”, “Whatever You Like” were inescapable. The want to avoid content centered around the streets and instead focus on expanding his audience to keep his name alive while in jail to flip the public perception of him as a bigger menace to society than his music even showed lead to more palatable and dull music. The album as a whole is fine, too damn long, and so shallow and devoid of the things that made T.I. a star it’s hard to stomach as a lifelong fan. But it got the job done. Post-Prison T.I. is a mixed bag featuring his lowest lows (No Mercy, US Or Else) interesting moments of experimentation (Trouble Man, all the Pharrell cuts on Paperwork, helping introduce Young Thug to the mainstream on “About The Money”) and fun dips back into an ever shifting Atlanta with new mixtapes (Fuck Da City Up, Fuck A Mixtape, the GDOD compilations). 

Now an alder statesman with baggage stacking by the day (sex trafficking allegations, drugs, tax issues, forcing his daughter to have virginity tests that forced comments by the UN and World Health Organization) he flashes in from time to time on records with MC’s generations removed from when he began that see him as an OG (Big KRIT, JID, Trouble). His ear for talent was always there and now his cosign is rare and meaningful, even if his own music has been a mixed bag at best. He’ll be remembered as having a split career (side A was pure personality and a tight knit corner boy character while side B is a man achieving pop fame and trying to keep himself interested having checked off every traditional box) that was muddled by off record incidents, while also setting a blueprint for the dominant sub-genre of the next 20 years with trap music. His peak is defined by an unstoppable charisma, tight knit songwriting and a drawl that let his flow seep into the crevices of any beat in sight. Even on the backend he was constantly searching for new sounds and artists to sharpen his sword with, dipping his toe in more elderstatement-core topics like politics and family dynamics. Evolving from a brash hooligan into a socially tuned-in taxpayer makes for great personal change, but with T.I. as the messenger it falls flat more than it blazes new ground. It doesn’t take away that for flashes he was the boy king that ruled and solidified rap's newest cultural epicenter, pushing Atlanta to heights that are still being built upon to this day.

Album To Check: KIING

Best Songs: “Rubberband Man", "I'm Talkin' To You", "What You Know"

Written By: Anthony Seaman (@soflgoemstone on IG & Twitter)