Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980 in Atlanta, Georgia), best known by the stage name T.I., is an American rapper, actor, and philanthropist.

Background
T.I. is from the streets of Westside Bankhead Zone 1. His original stage name, T.I.P., stems from his childhood nickname "Tip", which he got from his grandfather. Due to his southern drawl, fans mistook his name for "Chip", so he began spelling it out "T.I.P". Upon signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 2001, he shortened his name to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip. He is also known to go by "Rubberband Man" and the self-proclaimed "King of the South" (which has created several cases of controversy between other southern rappers, such as Lil' Flip and Ludacris).

T.I. has four children. Their names are Messiah "Ya'Majesty" Harris,Damani Uriah Harris, Deyjah Harris, and Clifford Joseph "King" Harris III, he also claims Tiny's daughter, Zonnique Pullins as his own.

He is the leader of a rap group known as P$C (Pimp Squad Click). His debut album I'm Serious was released through Arista Records in 2001, which spawned the single of the same title which featured reggae vocalist Beenie Man. His debut album included Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes (who named him the Jay-Z of the south), Jazze Pha and Youngbloodz. However, the album did not sell very well, and he was dropped from the label. Undaunted, he formed Grand Hustle Records and released several mixtapes with the assistance of DJ Drama, which created an underground buzz. He resurfaced in the summer of 2003 on Bonecrusher's song "Neva Scared". He parlayed this attention towards the release of his second album, Trap Muzik. It was more of a success than his debut album because of the singles "24s", "Be Easy", "Rubber Band Man", and "Let's Get Away". The success of the album was followed by some controversy: while on tour, T.I. was charged with violating his probation over a 2003 drug charge, and turned himself in. He was sentenced to three years in prison. While there he was granted rights to film the music video for "Let's Get Away".

Rise to fame
After his second CD Trap Muzik sold over 900,000 copies in the U.S., T.I. released Urban Legend in late 2004. Urban Legend instantly generated crossover success with the hit single "Bring 'Em Out". He used a sample from Jay-Z's "What More Can I Say" from The Black Album to create the hook, and featured production from Ruff Ryders's producer Swizz Beatz. The album featured Trick Daddy, Nelly, Lil Jon, B.G., Mannie Fresh of the Big Tymers, Daz Dillinger, Lil' Wayne, Pharrell of the Neptunes, P$C and Lil' Kim. The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200. At the beginning of 2005, T.I. enjoyed success alongside Lil' Wayne on the Destiny's Child song "Soldier", which proved to be a worldwide smash hit.

His latest album, King debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart on April 4, 2006, selling over 520,000 copies in its first week. In 2005 he launched his own film production company called Grand Hustle Films, signed a multi-artist joint venture deal for his label with Atlantic Records, and established a music publishing deal for Grand Hustle Music with Warner Chappell. He also produced the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow and released the collection through Grand Hustle/Atlantic. He also did the same for the debut album of his group P$C, 25 To Life. He has also starred in the film ATL.

On television, T.I. was seen on MTV's Diary and Punk'd after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher on his way to his own concert held at Fresno, California.

On a recent MTV interview, T.I. has stated that in early 2006, after the sequel to his movie ATL hits theatres, his next studio album, T.I. vs. T.I.P., will quickly hit afterwards,in 2007. T.I. will also be making appearances on upcoming albums by Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, and Young Dro.

T.I. has collaborated in the studio with John Mayer, and their is 2007 tentative release date for the material.

Disputes
In 2004, T.I. received an early release from incarceration, and returned to music with some disparaging words for rival rappers Lil' Flip and Ludacris. T.I. had overheard people claiming that Lil Flip had disrespected him at a show he did in Atlanta and he felt obliged to respond. He freestyled over Jay Z's 99 problems ("Lil Flip aint one") and Ray Cash's "Pussy Ass Niggas" with UGK rapper Bun B. Flip responded with numerous freestyles, and released an underground album where most of the tracks were devoted to dissing T.I. and others.

T.I. also called out Ludacris over an old disagreement their crews had with one another. Ludacris made a music video in which a person in a shirt that resembeled a Trap Muzik shirt was seen being beaten, and, whether the resemblance was intentional or not, the feud between T.I. and Ludacris progressed. T.I. later recorded a song with G-Unit rapper Young Buck originally featuring Lil Jon. T.I.'s verse seemed like a diss to Ludacris and Young Buck did not want to be apart of it. Young Buck told Ludacris about this and Ludacris decided to get on the same song and diss T.I. In his song "You know who", he mentions Word of Mouf, maybe subliminally, but there none the less.

T.I.'s verse was omitted from the original track listing and replaced with The Game. According to website, T.I. was on a Houston radio station talking about the situation between himself and Lil' Flip. They since have discontinued this feud after a closed door meeting between the two. The feud was documented by the Houston Press.

On T.I.'s album King, there are several tracks which have been disputed by the hip hop community to be shots at Lil Flip ("What You Know", "You Know Who" and "I'm Talkin to You"). In an interview with a popular online hip hop website on March 24, 2006, T.I. was quoted as saying he and Lil Flip have no beef. This is somewhat contradictory to the events that occurred during Young Dro's video "Shoulder Lean". As Young Dro delivers the line "Lucky Charm Diamonds man, but nah, I ain't Flip". T.I. is seen making a laughing gesture towards the video camera.

Death of T.I.'s friend and assistant
In the early hours of May 3, 2006, T.I. and his entourage were involved in a gunfight after leaving a concert after-party at the Club Ritz, a nightclub in Cincinnati, Ohio that has a history of problems with the law. Four members of T.I.'s entourage were shot in the altercation. T.I.'s personal assistant Philant Johnson was killed and Janice Gillespie was seriously wounded by the gunfire. It is believed that the altercation began at the Ritz when members of T.I.'s entourage began throwing money from the stage into the crowd, angering male audience members.

According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the feud began at the city's Club Ritz during an after-party for the Atlanta rapper and his protege Young Dro -- who performed earlier that evening at the club Bogart's -- and moved outside, where shots were fired into two vans transporting T.I.'s crew just after three o'clock.

"[The money] was supposed to be for the ladies," one witness said. "But it was hitting guys in the face, and they were like, 'We got money, so why are you throwing money at us?'"

When the situation grew tense, T.I. reportedly told his group to head out. A witness outside told the Enquirer that one shot -- believed to be unrelated to the ensuing gun battle -- was fired in the parking lot and at least four people followed the vans in a large vehicle. The person that died was T.I.'s personal assistant and best friend Philant Johnson.

Community work
T.I. has stepped up his community involvement as well, taking the lead on several initiatives to help the victims devastated by Hurricane Katrina, including personally donating $50,000 to the relief effort while leading an on-air Labor Day pledge drive on Atlanta's V-103 FM that raised over $263,000 for Mississippi rapper David Banner's "Heal the Hood" Foundation. He also partnered with David Banner and Atlanta newcomer Young Jeezy for a two-day food and clothing drive at Atlanta's Club Vision and co-headlined a massive benefit concert on September 17, sharing the bill with heavyweights such as Nelly, OutKast's Big Boi, and David Banner - with 100 percent of the proceeds going to "Heal the Hood."

In addition to his Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, T.I. worked with troubled youths at Paulding Detention Center in Atlanta, provided scholarships for single parent families at Boys and Girls Clubs, and headlined Boost Mobile's RockCorps concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such performers as Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and Kanye West, and was held exclusively for community service volunteers. In June 2005, The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Foundation, named for the deceased member of multi-platinum female group TLC, and Atlanta's V-103 honored T.I. with the 2005 Lisa Lopes Award for groundbreaking achievements in music and community service which was court ordered. With this steady list of growing accomplishments T.I. is being recognized as the "Jay-Z of the South." according to Pharrell Williams of multi-platinum production team The Neptunes.

Filmography
T.V.
2005: The O.C.
2005: South Beach

Film
2006: ATL (film)
2007: ATL 2 (film)
2007: American Gangster
2007: Ballers

In The News:

07-02-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE Eurweb.com, CA - Jul 2, 2008 SOULJA BOY SNEAKERS ON THE HORIZON: Rapper inks multi-year shoe and apparel contract with Yums. *Soulja Boy will have his own brand of sneakers to go along ...   Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:26:32 GMT Best shows this week Denver Post, CO - Jun 26, 2008 TI's occasional hip-hop scraps and boasting have threatened to overshadow his music, but the Atlanta-bred rapper-actor at least avoids the self-aggrandizing ...   Fri, 27 Jun 2008 06:35:44 GMT 06-22-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE Eurweb.com, CA - Jun 23, 2008 *Charges were brought in Cincinnati against two brothers in the slaying of rapper TI's assistant during a party following a performance in 2006. ...   Mon, 23 Jun 2008 07:01:12 GMT Charges in shooting of rapper TI's assistant Niagara Falls Review, Canada - Jun 21, 2008 CINCINNATI (The Associated Press)- Two brothers have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an assistant to rapper TI at a party following a ...   Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:36:24 GMT News on Michael Jackson, 50 Cent, Beyonce & More Eurweb.com, CA - Jun 21, 2008 *According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, two brothers, Hosea and Padron Thomas, have been charged with the 2006 killing of Atlanta rapper TI's assistant and ...   Sat, 21 Jun 2008 08:37:42 GMT 2 face murder charges in death of rapper?s aide Youngstown Vindicator, OH - Jun 20, 2008 CINCINNATI ? Two brothers have been charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an assistant to rapper TI at a party after a Cincinnati performance in 2006 ...   Sat, 21 Jun 2008 04:11:00 GMT 50 Cent Exposes Young Buck, Lil' Wayne Gets Lost At The Book Drive ... SOHH, Jersey City - Jun 20, 2008 Add Ice-T to the list of senior rappers who are not impressed with Hip-Hop's freshman class. The vet emcee/actor had some harsh words for today's "New Jack" ...   Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:42:00 GMT Rapper TI urges youth to make right decisions Newnan Times-Herald, GA - Jun 18, 2008 And that's the message that the rapper, producer and actor delivered Wednesday, bolstering what many of the youth had already heard from their parents, ...   Thu, 19 Jun 2008 02:28:04 GMT Rate Hot-107.9?s Birthday Bash 13 Access Atlanta, GA - Jun 16, 2008 By Sonia Murray | Monday, June 16, 2008, 12:00 PM Atlanta rapper-actor TI gave his first hometown performance (and only his second one, period) since he was ...   Mon, 16 Jun 2008 16:13:46 GMT Television movies for the week of June 15 Pittsburgh Post Gazette, PA - Jun 14, 2008 Living with his destitute mother, a young man in Detroit tries to overcome obstacles and achieve success as a rapper. (R) (2:30) VH1: Sun. 9 PM, Mon. ...   Sun, 15 Jun 2008 04:23:59 GMT Page:  1  2  3

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