1996–2000: Career beginnings In 1996, T.I. befriended local rapper
Big Kuntry King. Together they sold
mixtapes out of the trunk of their car.
Kawan "KP" Prather, a record executive, discovered T.I. and then signed him to his record label Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. Upon signing with
Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 1999, he shortened his name from Tip to T.I., out of respect for Arista label-mate
Q-Tip. T.I. relays the situation as:
2001–2002: Atlantic Records deal and ''I'm Serious'' T.I. released his debut album, ''
I'm Serious'', in October 2001 through
Arista Records. The album spawned the single of the same name featuring
Jamaican
reggae artist
Beenie Man on June 26, 2001. The single received little airplay and failed to chart. The album features
guest appearances from his
Southern hip-hop group
P$C,
Jazze Pha,
Too Short,
Bone Crusher,
Lil Jon,
Pastor Troy and
YoungBloodZ, as well as
Pharrell Williams of American record production team
The Neptunes, who called him "the
Jay-Z of the South". The
production for ''I'm Serious'', was handled by The Neptunes,
DJ Toomp, Madvac and The Grand Hustle Team. Despite the album's guests appearances and production team, the album peaked at number 98 and only sold 163,000 copies in the United States. Critics pointed to the fact that many of the tracks sounded the same and that a few were blatant rip-offs. Other critics commented saying, "T.I. claims to be the king of the South, but fails to show and prove. He does, however, have potential. If his talent ever matches his confidence, he may be headed for stardom." Due to the poor commercial reception of the album, T.I. was dropped from
Arista Records.
2003–2004: Trap Muzik and Urban Legend T.I. released his second album
Trap Muzik on August 19, 2003, through
Grand Hustle Records. It debuted at number four and sold 109,000 copies in its first week. It spawned the singles "
24s", "
Be Easy", "
Rubberband Man" and "
Let's Get Away". The album features guest appearances from
8Ball & MJG,
Jazze Pha,
Bun B and
Mac Boney. It was produced by Jazze Pha,
Kanye West,
David Banner, Madvac and
DJ Toomp. Upon its release,
Trap Muzik received generally favorable reviews from most music critics, who generally regarded it as a major improvement over his debut album, ''
I'm Serious. This included Complex'' naming the album one of the classic albums of the last decade in 2012. In February 2013, allhiphop.com placed it as No. 5 as the best southern
hip-hop album of all time. T.I. released his third studio album,
Urban Legend, in November 2004. It debuted at number seven on the US
Billboard 200, selling 193,000 copies in its first week. In 2004, T.I. was featured on
Destiny's Child's hit single "
Soldier", alongside
New Orleans-bred rapper
Lil Wayne, which peaked at number three on the Hot 100 chart.
2005–2006: P$C album, King and ATL concert in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 23, 2006. In September 2005, T.I. teamed up with his
Pimp $quad Click (P$C) cohorts,
Big Kuntry King,
Mac Boney, C-Rod and
AK, to release P$C's debut studio album,
25 to Life. The album, which was preceded by several self-released mixtapes by P$C, peaked at No.10 on the US
Billboard 200 chart. The album was supported by the lead single "I'm a King", which was included on the
soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow, a collection released by T.I.'s label imprint Grand Hustle, under the aegis of Atlantic Records. T.I.'s fourth album,
King, debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 chart in the first half of 2006, selling 522,000 copies in its first week. T.I. released "
Front Back" and "Ride with Me" as
promotional singles prior to the release of the album. The singles garnered little attention. The album's lead single "
What You Know" became a
hit in the U.S. and helped promote not only the album, but also
ATL, the film T.I. starred in, that coincided with the album's release. The album also spawned the singles, "
Why You Wanna", "
Live in the Sky", and a
remix of "
Top Back", which was included on the Grand Hustle
compilation album Grand Hustle Presents: In da Streetz Volume 4.
King earned numerous awards and nominations including a Grammy Award nomination for
Best Rap Album. He was featured on newly signed Grand Hustle artist
Young Dro's debut single "
Shoulder Lean", which reached the top ten on the U.S. Hot 100 and No. 1 on the U.S.
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and
Hot Rap Tracks. "What You Know" won a
Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance and was nominated for
Best Rap Song at the
49th Grammy Awards. Also in 2006, T.I. collaborated with
Justin Timberlake for "
My Love", which proved to be a worldwide hit. It won a
Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Timberlake at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, The album included guest performances from
Jay-Z,
Busta Rhymes, Wyclef Jean,
Nelly, and
Eminem, and production by Eminem,
Jeff Bass, Mannie Fresh,
Grand Hustle,
The Runners,
Just Blaze, Wyclef Jean and
Danja. Absent from this album's production lineup was T.I.'s longtime producer DJ Toomp and The Neptunes. In October 2007, T.I. released his third single, "
Hurt", featuring Busta Rhymes and Alfamega.
2008–2009: Paper Trail In early 2008, T.I. collaborated with
Mariah Carey on the "
I'll Be Lovin' U Long Time" remix, peaking at number 58 on the U.S. Hot 100 and number 36 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. While under
house arrest, T.I. began writing lyrics down on paper for his sixth studio album. The first official single from the album, titled "
No Matter What", was released in April 2008. The music video was released in June 2008 on MTV's
FN Premieres. The official
lead single was "
Whatever You Like", released in July 2008, and became the most successful single of his career up until that point, breaking the record for the highest jump to number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, jumping from number 71 to number one and becoming T.I.'s first solo number one single on the chart. On YouTube, the video has a combined 333 million views, as of March 2024, split between a copy posted on T.I.'s and
Atlantic Records' channels. The third single was "
Swing Ya Rag" which featured vocals and production from
Swizz Beatz. T.I. released his sixth album,
Paper Trail, in September 2008. The title of the album refers to the lyrics he had written down on paper. Like many other rappers, T.I. abandoned this style of rapping after his debut album ''
I'm Serious by just memorizing lyrics. His representative explained that T.I. wanted to "take more time to really put something down [this time]". The album debuted at number one on the Billboard'' 200 selling 568,000 copies in the United States. The second single from the album, "
Swagga Like Us", featuring
Kanye West,
Jay-Z and
Lil Wayne, debuted and peaked at number five on the
Billboard Hot 100. With the third single "
Live Your Life" featuring
Rihanna, and produced by Canei Finch and Just Blaze, T.I. broke his own record on the
Billboard Hot 100 when it jumped from number 80 to the number one. During the
51st Grammy Awards, he was nominated for four Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap Performance by a Duo Or a Group for "
Swagga Like Us". "
Remember Me", featuring
Mary J. Blige, was released digitally on July 7, 2009. It was the planned first single from the re-release of T.I.'s sixth studio album, "Paper Trail", but the re-release was eventually shelved. The single peaked at number 29 on the
Billboard Hot 100. On October 6, "
Hell of a Life" was released digitally and went on to peak at number 54 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In 2009, T.I. appeared as himself on an episode of
Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. On the episode, he took the comedian to
Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles in LA and gave her a lesson on how to "swagger".
2010–2011: No Mercy and drug charges On March 26, 2010, T.I. was released from a
halfway house where he had been serving the remainder of his prison sentence for weapons possession. Soon after his release he was in the studio working on his seventh studio album titled
King Uncaged.
Jim Jonsin, the producer who previously worked with him on his single,
"Whatever You Like" and R&B singer
Trey Songz, were scheduled to work on the project. T.I. made his first public appearance since prison, stepping out with then fiancée
Tameka "Tiny" Cottle in support of her
Alzheimer's research fundraiser "For the Love of Our Fathers" at Atlanta's Opera venue. "I am very well, very happy to be seen," said T.I., who joined Cottle onstage at the end of the benefit. T.I. released a new promotional single titled "
I'm Back" on March 8, 2010. The single peaked at No. 44 on the
Billboard Hot 100 charts. Around this time, he made a featured guest appearance on
Diddy-Dirty Money's single "
Hello Good Morning", the single peaked at No. 27 in US and charted internationally in eight other countries. He made a guest appearance on
Larry King Live on May 13, to discuss with
Larry King about his nine-month prison term on federal gun charges and other topics. T.I. released a promotional soundtrack single entitled, "
Yeah Ya Know (Takers)" on May 24. It peaked at number forty-four on the
Billboard Hot 100 and number sixty-eight on the Canadian Hot 100. On October 15, 2010, T.I. was sentenced to 11 months in prison for violating the terms of his probation. Following his arrest, T.I. scrapped
King Uncaged as the title for his seventh studio album and renamed it
No Mercy, due to his new prison sentencing. He then released the lead single from the newly titled album, "
Get Back Up" featuring Chris Brown, on the same day that he was sentenced back to prison for violating the terms of his probation. "Get Back Up" peaked at number seventy in the US. RIAA certified
No Mercy Gold with over 500,000 copies sold. His second and final single from the album was "
That's All She Wrote" his second collaboration with
Eminem, and was released on December 19, peaking at number eighteen in the US. The song was available on iTunes and other vendors, such as Spotify on August9 and it peaked at No.78 in the US. After being released from prison in August 2011, T.I. signed a deal with
VH1 for a new reality show that will follow him as he re-adjusts to life as a free man after the incarceration. He announced that he was working on a novel entitled,
Power & Beauty, which was set to be released in October 2011.
2011–2013: Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head On September 30, 2011, T.I. released "
I'm Flexin'", the first promotional single from his upcoming eighth studio album. The song features vocals and production from
Big K.R.I.T. T.I. reunited with
Young Jeezy on "
F.A.M.E." for Jeezy's album
TM103. "I'm Flexin" peaked at number sixty-six on the
Billboard Hot 100, while "F.A.M.E." peaked at number sixty-seven on the Billboard Hip Hop/R&B chart. On October 18, T.I. made appearances on
The Howard Stern Show and
The View to promote his new novel,
Power & Beauty: A Love Story of Life on the Streets and discuss other issues involving his time in prison. Later that day, he released the second promotional single, "
Here Ye, Hear Ye" featuring
Pharrell Williams under the alias
Sk8brd. After his release from prison, T.I. appeared on several
remixes including; "Spend It" by
2 Chainz, "
Sleazy" by
Kesha, "
Niggas in Paris" with
Jay-Z and
Kanye West, "
Hard White (Up in the Club)" by
Yelawolf also featuring
Slaughterhouse, "
Ima Boss" by
Meek Mill alongside a freestyle over
Drake's "
Headlines", and
Lil Wayne's "
She Will". He was also featured on southern rapper
Future's second single "Magic", taken from his debut studio album
Pluto, which was the first song he hopped on after his release from prison according to Future. T.I. revealed the title of his eighth studio album to be
Trouble Man. The title was partly inspired by
Marvin Gaye's
1972 song of the same name, he revealed on
Billboard. In a previous interview with
Rolling Stone; he said he was debating between two titles,
Trouble Man and
Kill the King. The third promotional single "Pyro", was released on November 21. In preparation for the album, T.I. released a mixtape entitled,
Fuck da City Up on New Year's Day. Two songs off the mixtape charted on the
Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, "Popped Off", featuring vocals and production from
Dr. Dre and "This Time of Night" featuring
Nelly, respectively. While on set for the "
Strange Clouds" music video,
MTV interviewed
B.o.B and confronted him of a rumor that he and T.I. are working on a collaborative album. B.o.B responded: "The joint album, it actually started as a joke. Tip would always refer to me as 'the Martian', and in one of his lyrics, he said, 'It's the man and the Martian,' and we said, 'Man that could be an album title.' We kinda just played around with it. But it seems to be taking form in a very organic way." On December 1, 2011, B.o.B appeared on New York City's
Hot 97 radio station and confirmed that he and T.I. are indeed working on a collaborative album titled
The Man and the Martian. On March 1, 2012, T.I. announced his signing of
Iggy Azalea,
Chipmunk and
Trae Tha Truth to
Grand Hustle Records. He served as
executive producer for Azalea's debut
extended play,
Glory (2012), and guest appeared on its lead single "Murda Bizness", which premiered March 26, 2012. On March 30, T.I. released a
snippet of "
Love This Life",
Trouble Mans promotional single, produced by Mars of 1500 or Nothin'. The song was released on April 2, and peaked at number 81 on the
Billboard Hot 100. T.I. guest appeared on Jamaican singer
Sean Kingston's 2012 single "
Back 2 Life (Live It Up)". The song sampled
Soul II Soul's 1989 hit "
Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)". The song peaked at number 52 on the
Canadian Hot 100. During his visit to
Angie Martinez's radio show, he revealed that the album will be released on September 4. He recorded collaborations with
Trey Songz and
Usher. ''"It's just a dope, dope collabo". "Usher and Tip, two Atlanta natives,"
Rico Love told Rap-Up.com. "This time I finally feel like they got a record that's gonna be a humongous hit."'' T.I.'s
VH1 reality show
T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle was renewed for a second season, which aired on September 3. T.I. released another promotional song off
Trouble Man on May 15, entitled "Like That". T.I. appeared on Trey Songz's second single off his album
Chapter V titled "
2 Reasons". The song peaked at number forty-three in the US. Another promotional single off
Trouble Man, entitled "
Go Get It" was released on July 17. The song peaked at number seventy-seven and number eighty-six in Canada. In September, T.I. appeared on
106 & Park to promote his book "Trouble & Triumph", a sequel to his previous novel "Power & Beauty". During his visit, he announced a new release date for his album set for December 18. He revealed that the album will feature collaborations from Pharrell,
André 3000,
CeeLo Green,
R. Kelly, Lil Wayne, and
ASAP Rocky. He also stated that he's working on a women's clothing line from
A.K.O.O. He later released a new song "Trap Back Jumpin'", which he premiered during his visit on Angie Martinez's radio show. On October 9, 2012, T.I. was featured on the annual
BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, alongside his Grand Hustle artists
Iggy Azalea,
B.o.B,
Chip and
Trae tha Truth. A song titled "
Ball" was released on October 16 as the
lead single from his upcoming eighth studio album. The song featured fellow American
rapper Lil Wayne and was
produced by American record producer
Rico Love, alongside Earl & E. The song peaked at number fifty in the US and number fifty-eight in Canada. On October 23, he previewed twelve tracks from the album at its listening party in New York City, and also revealed their titles. The tracks previewed feature artists such as
Kendrick Lamar. In the following month, T.I. leaked the illustrated cover art from his newly named album entitled,
Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head along with the track list and a few newly added features from the album. T.I. explained, "I think it's a lot more urban than
Paper Trail, and less apologetic than
No Mercy. I think it's more diversified than
T.I. vs. T.I.P. though. It's got a lotta heart, it's got a lotta edge. It's a creative album. It's probably harder than most of the shit that's coming out right now." "Sorry" featuring Andre 3000 was released as the fifth promotional single via iTunes on November 27. "Sorry" peaked at number 36 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Then "Hello" featuring
CeeLo Green was released to iTunes on December 11 as the sixth promotional single. The album debuted at number two on the US
Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 179,000 copies in the United States. As of September 2, 2013, it has sold 502,000 copies. Shortly before
Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head was released, T.I. announced he would release the sequel as his next album, titled
Trouble Man II: He Who Wears the Crown. The sequel is due to T.I. recording more material than needed, being cited by T.I. as much as 120 songs. In early January 2013,
B.o.B announced an upcoming Grand Hustle
compilation album titled
Hustle Gang. On January 18, 2013, it was announced T.I. drew a close to his 10-year contract with Atlantic records the month before, after releasing
Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head. It was reported he proposed a $75 million deal for any label that wants to provide a home for him and his imprint.
TMZ reported that T.I. has drawn up the details, which include "3 albums, 10–20 percent of publishing, touring, merchandise, film and TV rights, corporate endorsement deals, as well as exclusive signing of all Grand Hustle artists". According to T.I., the CeeLo Green-featured song was selected due to its heavy radio play. On March 8, 2013, T.I. told
Rap-Up that he was already 60–70% completed with
Trouble Man II: He Who Wears the Crown. He also spoke on the Grand Hustle compilation,
Hustle Gang, which B.o.B announced earlier in January. In March, T.I. and
B.o.B filmed the music video for "
Memories Back Then", a song featuring
Kendrick Lamar and Kris Stephens. The song, which was recorded for
Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head, originally
sampled "
Somebody That I Used to Know", as performed by
Gotye. T.I. said to
Rap-Up. Although the track failed to appear on
Trouble Man, due to sample-clearance issues, it was released as the lead single from the
Hustle Gang compilation album.
2013–2016: Post Atlantic and Bankroll Mafia On March 26, 2013, T.I. appeared alongside
Pharrell, on Robin Thicke's lead single "
Blurred Lines" from his
album of the same name. The song quickly became a worldwide hit and peaked at number one on the
Billboard Hot 100, making it T.I.'s fourth number one Hot 100 single. The song has also reached number one in 13+ countries, including the United Kingdom and Germany. In March 2013, Lil Wayne announced T.I. would be co-headlining the second ''
America's Most Wanted Tour. T.I. explained that the tour would begin on July5 and go through September 1, 2013. American rappers French Montana and 2Chainz, were later confirmed to join the tour, among others. The first America's Most Wanted Tour'', had taken place five years prior and featured
Young Jeezy,
Soulja Boy,
Pleasure P,
Jeremih and
Young Money. On May 21, 2013, T.I. released a single titled "
Wit Me" featuring
Lil Wayne. The song was released in promotion for the tour and peaked at number 80 on the Hot 100 chart. In a July 2013 interview, with Power 98 FM, T.I. spoke on his then-upcoming album,
Trouble Man II: He Who Wears the Crown. While he didn't reveal many album specifics, he did promise a project that would make whoever decides to distribute the album very "happy": "I've been working on this one since the last one dropped. I haven't decided exactly where I'm going to take [the new album] yet as far as a company for distribution, but wherever I take it, there's going to be some happy people in that building." In September 2013, T.I. was featured throughout Lil Wayne's twelfth solo mixtape
Dedication 5. On September 1, 2013, it was revealed that T.I. would be featured on American pop star
Lady Gaga's album
ARTPOP, on the song "Jewels n' Drugs", alongside fellow American rappers
Too Short and
Twista. Another pop star,
Britney Spears, later announced T.I. would appear on her song "Tik Tik Boom", from her eighth studio album
Britney Jean (2013). T.I. was also featured on British singer
Cher Lloyd's single "
I Wish", which was released in September 2013. On November 22, 2013, T.I. announced that he had signed a deal with
Columbia Records, to release his upcoming ninth studio album. T.I. later clarified the deal is solely for his ninth album. T.I. revealed he recruited Pharrell Williams, who was influential in his move to Columbia, to executive produce the LP, with plans to release the album in early 2014. In December 2013, T.I. revealed although he had originally planned to release
Trouble Man II, since getting into the studio with the album's executive producer, Pharrell Williams, he had a change of heart. He stated: "Since we started working on the project and the project started has taken a different shape, I think we're going to postpone that title. We're gonna rework that. I got a couple of things in mind." He still plans to release the sequel to
Trouble Man, however, he said: "All I'ma say is, it's gonna be a motion picture, it's gonna be a theatrical-worthy title. Something that will definitely seem instant classic. I'm thinking something like 'Trap Champion', 'Paperwork,' but whatever it is the subtitle will be 'The Motion Picture'." On December 16, 2013, it was reported that T.I. decided to name it
Paperwork. On May 9, 2014, T.I. released a music video for a song titled "Turn It", in promotion for
Paperwork. On June 3, 2014, T.I. released a song titled "
About the Money", via digital distribution. The song, which serves as the first single from
Paperwork, features up-and-coming Atlanta-based rapper
Young Thug. The music video for "About the Money", directed by T.I. and Kennedy Rothchild, was released on June 2, 2014. On June 17, 2014, T.I. release the second single from
Paperwork, a song titled
No Mediocre, which was produced by
West Coast hip-hop producer
DJ Mustard and features a guest verse from his then protege
Iggy Azalea. Since its release "No Mediocre" reached number 33 on the Hot 100 chart and was certified platinum by the RIAA. On August 20, 2014, one day after speaking out on America in his online
treatise about
Ferguson, Missouri, in the wake of the fatal police
shooting of Michael Brown, T.I. released a new song titled "
New National Anthem". The song, which features vocals from American singer-songwriter
Skylar Grey, includes socially conscious lyrics centered on racism and injustice. On September 23, 2014,
Paperwork was made available for pre-order with "New National Anthem" as the "instant gratification track". Also on September 23, the official audio for "New National Anthem" was released via T.I.'s official
Vevo account. T.I.'s ninth album,
Paperwork, was released on October 21, 2014,. Upon its release, the album debuted at number two on the US
Billboard 200, with first-week sales of 80,000 copies in the United States.
Paperwork received generally positive reviews from
music critics. At
Metacritic, which assigns a
normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an
average score of 69, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on ten reviews. On March 11, 2015, T.I. released a single titled "Project Steps". On March 24, 2015, T.I. announced his tenth album would be titled ''Trap's Open
. In a June 2015 interview, T.I. revealed his tenth studio album was completed and awaiting release. He also announced he was working on a project as part of the hip-hop collective Bankroll Mafia, alongside Shad da God and Young Thug, among others. In July 2015, T.I. revealed The Dime Trap
was being mixed and mastered; he also added that "It is a lot more urban, a lot more edgy, a lot more unapologetically ghetto than Paperwork''". In promotion for the album, T.I. unexpectedly released an
extended play (EP) titled ''
Da' Nic'', on September 11, 2015. The EP contains five songs, including the singles "Project Steps" and "Check, Run It". The five-track project, which includes features from Young Thug and Young Dro, as well as production from Jazz Feezy, Sho Nuff,
League of Starz,
London on da Track and
Mars, was launched independently. It was released through San Francisco's
Empire Distribution and T.I.'s King Inc. imprint, marking T.I.'s first ever
independent release. During this period, T.I. reverted to his previous pseudonym, Tip. On September 18, 2015, T.I. announced his departure from Columbia Records. In an interview with HitsDailyDouble.com, he addressed his situation: "Having just exited my deal at Columbia, I was a rogue artist, busting creativity, just waiting to put music in the marketplace, so while I'm sorting out my next situation, I'm blessed enough to be able to control my destiny and put music out as quickly as I want to, and was able to release a Tip album, which I had wanted to do for a long time." In October 2015, in an interview with
MTV News, T.I. said: "This is a perfect time to be able to call myself what I've always been known as [Tip]. Being called T.I. is very weird. It's kinda awkward to be famous for a name that you've never been called before in your life. If you want me to know that you don't know me, call me T.I. It's the weirdest most awkward thing." During the interview he also spoke on the benefit of not having to deal with a major label and how he couldn't have released ''Da' Nic'' if he wasn't independent. On February 22, 2016, before his "pop-up performance" at Greenbriar Mall in his hometown of Atlanta, T.I. announced he signed a distribution deal with Jay Z's
Roc Nation for
The Dime Trap. T.I. also revealed he is one of the new co-owners of online streaming service,
TIDAL. T.I., in collaboration with a number of southern rappers, who are collectively known as
Bankroll Mafia, released an
eponymous album on April 22, 2016. On May 16, 2016, T.I. released a single titled "Dope" which was produced by
West Coast hip-hop record producer
Dr. Dre. On May 26, 2016, four people were shot before T.I. took the stage at
Irving Plaza at his scheduled concert in New York City. One of the victims died later at a hospital. In early July 2016, T.I. reiterated that he would like to be known as Tip, moving forward in his career: "We made a conscious decision to have a lot more faith in the [label] operations of our art early on. But right now, just to be able to [go by Tip] and have it be significant and have people still care about the music being released, it's incredibly flattering. I'm humbled, I appreciate all the love."
2016–2019: Us or Else and Dime Trap On July 22, 2016, during an interview with
Ebro in the Morning on
Hot 97, T.I. announced an EP titled
Us or Else. The EP "will be aimed at supporting the
#BlackLivesMatter movement, and will speak explicitly about the twisted road
race relations took in America to arrive at its current precarious state." On August 6, 2016, T.I. released the first single for
Us or Else, a song titled "We Will Not", in response to the turmoil caused by the injustices going on in America, namely
police brutality following the deaths of
Philando Castile and
Alton Sterling. On August 31, 2016, T.I. released a new song off
Us or Else, titled "War Zone", exclusively through TIDAL.
Us or Else was released exclusively through
TIDAL on September 23, 2016, by Grand Hustle Records and
Roc Nation. The EP, which was T.I.s first project under Roc Nation, reached number 175 on the US
Billboard 200 chart. On December 16, 2016, without prior announcement or promotion, T.I. released
Us or Else: Letter to the System. The project, which was also initially released exclusively through TIDAL, features
guest appearances from
Quavo,
Meek Mill, RaRa,
Big K.R.I.T. and
Killer Mike, as well as
production handled by
Nottz,
Mars of
1500 or Nothin' and
Mike & Keys, among others. In January 2017, it was announced T.I. would host the fifth annual Global Spin Awards. In an October 2017 interview with
HipHopDX, when asked about Grand Hustle Records' upcoming albums, T.I. answered with: "
We Want Smoke is out, and then Translee is coming out on November 27, and Booke is October 27, and you can wait until December 18 for mine. Just know that whenever you see The Chief [logo] on the project, it's gonna be absolute pandemonium." In February 2017, during an interview with
The Breakfast Club radio show, T.I. revealed he would retire from making music after three more solo albums: "I'm ready to get the hell outta here, though. I got, like, two, I got, this next album and two, I got three more albums in my head, conceptualized. Once I get them out, I'm done. [Jeezy album?] We're still doing it. … [The next albums?] The next one is more like trap music. It's
Trap Muzik 2017. And the one after that, it's gonna be more like a, uh, love as it pertains to a dope boy. And the one after that, that's my final album. It's called
Kill the King. The last album is
Kill the King. Simply because ever since my first album, I've put the title of '
King of the South' on me and to make yourself the
king is to make you a target. And in
chess, the object is to kill the king. So
Kill the King is the title of my last album. Will they kill him or will he ride into the sunset happily ever after?" In May 2017, in an interview with
XXL, when asked about collaborative albums, T.I. answered "Man, I actually have a few of them. Me and
Jeezy, we were supposed been did this a while ago. The project was gonna be called,
Dope Boy Academy, and we did like three or four songs, but we just gotta get back in and put it together. We just want to present it correctly. Also, me and [Young]
Dro was talking about doing one. I think we was gonna call it
Sophisticated Excellence or something like that…something he came up with. Me and
B.o.B was supposed to do one called
The Man and the Martian. I'm open to all collaborations. Me and
Trey Songz were supposed to do one too called
The Lady Killers. All those of these projects could very well come into fruition."
Since 2020: The L.I.B.R.A. and Kill the King On October 16, 2020, T.I. released his eleventh studio album,
The L.I.B.R.A.. The album marked his first not to be released by a
major label and peaked at number 18 on the
Billboard 200. On June 9, 2021, T.I. announced on social media that he was working on his next album,
Kill the King, which will be his final album. On May 10, 2024, T.I. released a single entitled "LLOGCLAY," with rapper
YoungBoy Never Broke Again. On February 22, 2026, T.I. released a 1-minute preview titled "War", amidst his online feud with rapper
50 Cent. This was followed by the release of two diss tracks targeting 50 Cent, "Right One" and "What Bully", both released in the course of two days. == Feuds ==