T.I. Gives 'Rappin' Fool' Eminem A T.I.P. About Alter Egos

[Lunatic]

oh yea he also made that awesome movie with one of those dancing guys


he's runnin shit no doubt

dancing guys?

if he ain't runnin shit, NOBODY IS

shit stop hating. Jay-Z came outta retirement (big publicity right there) and dropped a hardcore radio friendly single and STILL couldn't touch T.I. #s

"Dominated 06' Now I'm Goin Right Back"

[jeromechickenbone]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

And answer me this because I'm not a TI fan and I really don't know... I think TI's success has really been driven by the great beats on his singles.  I know he released that wack ass single w/ Swizz Beats back in like 04, but outside of that he's done a really good job at picking really dope beats on his singles.  And the thing that set him apart was these beats were done by either in-house producers or producers who weren't already on every other mainstream rap album at the time. 

King was a huge album because those singles were laced w/ beats that were both dope and unpredictable.  I don't mean like they caught you off guard, but I mean it's not like you're getting a lead single produced by Scott Storch in which you know exactly what the song is gonna sound like before you hear it.  And because TI had his own crew largely responsible for the beats on his singles he actually amassed a core fanbase and that fanbase expanded w/ every album.  He had something that the other mainstream losers didn't have.  THAT is how you sell albums, and thats how you have a career w/ some longevity.

So here we are in 2007.  TI went platinum w/ his last album, which causes the major labels to flip the fuck out because they somehow released a successful album.  So now, they are throwing every big name mainstream artist on their label to try and get an appearance on TI's new album.  Guest producers, rappers, and singers and all the HYPE.  And yes, I realize that his prior albums had features and beats outside his camp.  But not to this degree.  Where in all these hyped up articles are they mentioning the cats that are most responsible for TI's success?  All I'm hearing is Timbaland, Timberlake, Scott Storch, Wyclef, Jay-Z, Eminem, Nelly.  TI has officially entered the generic, hype, hype, hype, zone.  And now you've got corporate america trying to milk his platinum status by putting him in Chevy ads w/ Dale Earnhardt.  My god this is gay.

I have no idea how anybody is excited to hear the same album sold to them month after month.  The same fucking people put out every goddamn mainstream album!!!!  Does anyone see a pattern here?!?!?  Does anybody wonder why the majors struggle to sell fucking records?  Its because they keep releasing the same album over and over and over!  It's played out!

If his label doesn't push a couple of singles that are produced by his core producers, it's a MASSIVE fuck up.  They're gonna alienate his core fanbase that has steadily grown every album. 

Mark my words, for you cats that have bought all his prior work, this will end up being your least favorite album.  I promise you after a little time has passed you'll compare this to his other albums and you won't like it as much as the others. 

[Fuck Your Existence]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

And answer me this because I'm not a TI fan and I really don't know... I think TI's success has really been driven by the great beats on his singles.  I know he released that wack ass single w/ Swizz Beats back in like 04, but outside of that he's done a really good job at picking really dope beats on his singles.  And the thing that set him apart was these beats were done by either in-house producers or producers who weren't already on every other mainstream rap album at the time. 

King was a huge album because those singles were laced w/ beats that were both dope and unpredictable.  I don't mean like they caught you off guard, but I mean it's not like you're getting a lead single produced by Scott Storch in which you know exactly what the song is gonna sound like before you hear it.  And because TI had his own crew largely responsible for the beats on his singles he actually amassed a core fanbase and that fanbase expanded w/ every album.  He had something that the other mainstream losers didn't have.  THAT is how you sell albums, and thats how you have a career w/ some longevity.

So here we are in 2007.  TI went platinum w/ his last album, which causes the major labels to flip the fuck out because they somehow released a successful album.  So now, they are throwing every big name mainstream artist on their label to try and get an appearance on TI's new album.  Guest producers, rappers, and singers and all the HYPE.  And yes, I realize that his prior albums had features and beats outside his camp.  But not to this degree.  Where in all these hyped up articles are they mentioning the cats that are most responsible for TI's success?  All I'm hearing is Timbaland, Timberlake, Scott Storch, Wyclef, Jay-Z, Eminem, Nelly.  TI has officially entered the generic, hype, hype, hype, zone.  And now you've got corporate america trying to milk his platinum status by putting him in Chevy ads w/ Dale Earnhardt.  My god this is gay.

I have no idea how anybody is excited to hear the same album sold to them month after month.  The same fucking people put out every goddamn mainstream album!!!!  Does anyone see a pattern here?!?!?  Does anybody wonder why the majors struggle to sell fucking records?  Its because they keep releasing the same album over and over and over!  It's played out!

If his label doesn't push a couple of singles that are produced by his core producers, it's a MASSIVE fuck up.  They're gonna alienate his core fanbase that has steadily grown every album. 

Mark my words, for you cats that have bought all his prior work, this will end up being your least favorite album.  I promise you after a little time has passed you'll compare this to his other albums and you won't like it as much as the others. 

i cant really argue with too much of what you said...the reason i loved King so much was like you mentioned (all in-house,no gay features etc.) but im not gonna knock him quite yet...until i actually get Vs. and give it a good listen i cant call it. but you do make alot of sense +1

[Sanford - V. President of the Dangerous Crew Movement]

L.Sanford: better then ALL of the commercial rappers running the game.

Chamillionaire > TI   

[Hatesrats™]

 

I'm starting to think Nas was right..

[Meho]

It's just after midnight and T.I. is waiting to go home from Teterboro, N.J.'s Atlantic airport in a private G-3 aircraft, courtesy of producer Wyclef Jean. The plane is equipped with 10 seats, a padded bench and an overeager stewardess tending to Atlanta's favorite rapper and his three friends, who are indulging in a sh*t-talking game of spades over the cabin's coffee table.

It's all fun and games on the airplane, but the lighthearted banter may actually speak to a darker side of T.I. -- a side that T.I. himself is showcasing in his upcoming album, "T.I. vs T.I.P.," due July 3. Much of the public knows T.I. as the ultra-suave, super-stylish rapper, the guy who guests in Justin Timberlake videos and makes the ladies swoon. But hip-hop heads and those closest to T.I. know he's a man fighting demons and thus fighting to hold onto his blistering career momentum. That's the essence of T.I.'s new album. He is the pop star, focused on expanding his horizons and his bottom line. T.I.P. -- a childhood nickname shortened to T.I. when the rapper signed his first deal, out of respect to Q-Tip -- is the bad boy.

No doubt, life has been good. His last album, "King," featured arguably the song of the year in 2006, "What You Know." The song sat at No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for six weeks and was the theme for the movie in which he starred, "ATL." The album was one of the top sellers of the year, entering The Billboard 200 at No. 1 and moving 522,000 its first week. It has sold 1.7 million to date, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Then, in spring 2006, while his Grand Hustle label celebrated the release of its first artist, Young Dro, and his song, "Shoulder Lean," earning the No.1 hip-hop slot in the country, Jive's now-president of urban music, Mark Pitts, reached out to see if T.I. might be interested in working with Timberlake. The pop star's "My Love" featuring T.I. hit No. 1 on The Billboard Hot 100, hurtling T.I. from hip-hop star to pop success. In the fall, T.I. was nominated for four Grammy Awards and won two for best rap solo performance for "What You Know" and best rap/sung collaboration for "My Love."

His hot streak hasn't stopped. Currently "Top Back," from "King," "Where They At," from his upcoming album, and his feature on R. Kelly's "I'm a Flirt" sit on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart.

But then T.I.P. -- friends and label execs refer to him as "Tip" routinely -- always seems to be lurking around the corner. In 1997, a pre-rap T.I.P. was arrested, convicted and sentenced to parole for drug charges and giving authorities a false name. Then in 2004, just as his "Rubberband Man" single was proving itself as a hit, T.I. turned himself in for violating parole and served roughly four months in Cobb County jail. Instead of promoting his sophomore album, "Trap Muzik," T.I.P. sat behind bars. Upon his release, T.I.P., in response to what he felt were Houston MC Lil Flip's disses, brandished photos of Flip dressed as a leprechaun at a local concert. The pair's rivalry grew and culminated in a street-boxing match behind a few cars during a T.I. video shoot in Houston.

The new album mixes plenty of still-hood tracks -- that would be T.I.P. -- and some poppier moments. The just-released first official single, "Big Sh*t Poppin'," produced by Mannie Fresh, could be a remix to "Top Back," the last single from "King," still on the charts. The new song's repeatable chorus, "Big sh*t poppin' and little sh*t stoppin'," is classic T.I.P.

Though the album's final sequence isn't hammered out yet, Timbaland, Eminem, Danja Hands, Swizz Beatz, the Runners, Just Blaze, Scott Storch, Akon, Wyclef Jean and in-house Grand Hustle producer Lil C have lent their production talents to "T.I. vs T.I.P." so far. One song, "Goodbye My Dear," T.I. wrote and produced himself. The track sports lazy drums, a synthy piano and Ciara on the hook, while T.I. rhymes about why his relationship must end. It's clearly a track aimed for the ladies.

"I can never go pop -- the hood is in me," T.I. says. "I'm just going for a different audience than I usually target. It's not fair to me to keep talking about the same things. I've gone so far past the hood that I've got to talk about other things."

The only question remaining is whether the rapper will be focused enough to stay out of trouble and promote his album. In other words, all his Grand Hustle signings, his executives at Atlantic and those closest to him will be waiting to see the winner of "T.I. vs T.I.P."

The rapper says he's confident. "Letting my rage and my temper get the best of me, like missing the second half of 'Trap Muzik' for serving a sentence-things like that, these are the things that hold me back," he says. "These are the things that T.I.P. does to keep T.I. from getting where T.I. thinks he can be ... The only person that can beat me is me."

[K.Dub]

L.Sanford: better then ALL of the commercial rappers running the game.

Chamillionaire > TI   

I'm waiting for Cham's new album before I agree with u on that

[WestCoasta]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

[K.Dub]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

T.I. got that swag, ya know

[WestCoasta]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

T.I. got that swag, ya know

he needs to stick to that

[K.Dub]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

T.I. got that swag, ya know

he needs to stick to that

Let's hope he does

[Lunatic]

Wow, TI vs. TIP.  Thats some deep shit.  And one side is the business man and the other is like the street dude?  I swear to God I think i've heard statements exactly like that in about 100 rapper interviews.  How do you guys get hyped hearing about this crap?  Do you not get tired of the same wack fucking gimmicks?

And answer me this because I'm not a TI fan and I really don't know... I think TI's success has really been driven by the great beats on his singles.  I know he released that wack ass single w/ Swizz Beats back in like 04, but outside of that he's done a really good job at picking really dope beats on his singles.  And the thing that set him apart was these beats were done by either in-house producers or producers who weren't already on every other mainstream rap album at the time. 

King was a huge album because those singles were laced w/ beats that were both dope and unpredictable.  I don't mean like they caught you off guard, but I mean it's not like you're getting a lead single produced by Scott Storch in which you know exactly what the song is gonna sound like before you hear it.  And because TI had his own crew largely responsible for the beats on his singles he actually amassed a core fanbase and that fanbase expanded w/ every album.  He had something that the other mainstream losers didn't have.  THAT is how you sell albums, and thats how you have a career w/ some longevity.

So here we are in 2007.  TI went platinum w/ his last album, which causes the major labels to flip the fuck out because they somehow released a successful album.  So now, they are throwing every big name mainstream artist on their label to try and get an appearance on TI's new album.  Guest producers, rappers, and singers and all the HYPE.  And yes, I realize that his prior albums had features and beats outside his camp.  But not to this degree.  Where in all these hyped up articles are they mentioning the cats that are most responsible for TI's success?  All I'm hearing is Timbaland, Timberlake, Scott Storch, Wyclef, Jay-Z, Eminem, Nelly.  TI has officially entered the generic, hype, hype, hype, zone.  And now you've got corporate america trying to milk his platinum status by putting him in Chevy ads w/ Dale Earnhardt.  My god this is gay.

I have no idea how anybody is excited to hear the same album sold to them month after month.  The same fucking people put out every goddamn mainstream album!!!!  Does anyone see a pattern here?!?!?  Does anybody wonder why the majors struggle to sell fucking records?  Its because they keep releasing the same album over and over and over!  It's played out!

If his label doesn't push a couple of singles that are produced by his core producers, it's a MASSIVE fuck up.  They're gonna alienate his core fanbase that has steadily grown every album. 

Mark my words, for you cats that have bought all his prior work, this will end up being your least favorite album.  I promise you after a little time has passed you'll compare this to his other albums and you won't like it as much as the others. 

--Beats have helped him, but you can easily argue any rapper who sells alot of copies must have hot beats on his singles
--that swizz beats track wasn't wack on a mainstream level, that album sold 1.3 million copies
--DJ Toomp is most responsible for T.I.'s hit singles, and he's not an in-house producer. He just doesn't really work with alot of big names (i know you mentioned that), but he's not a grand hustle producer, just stating that. Khao, Lil' C, Keith Mack are the in-house boys
--Then give T.I. credit on picking dope beats. And the flow on What You Know was as amazing to me as the beat itself
--Urban Legend also saw T.I. work with alot of ppl outside his camp. You saw Nelly, B.G., Mannie Fresh, Lil' Kim, Scott Storch, Swizz Beatz, Trick Daddy, Lil' Wayne. Shit even Daz Dillinger


I've loved all his prior work, and I don't think this will be much different. Urban Legend & King were already big cross-overs for him, and that's the way it's gonna be. Also, T.I. has the ability to NEVER be outshined on his own shit. Don't matter who's spittin on his album, you know T.I.'s gonna come the hardest, and he usually doesn't let the features play a big role. I'm confident he'll make the right decisions.