Rapper T.I. is on the latest cover of Vibe, and opens up about a host of issues ranging from his drug dependency, to whether or not he’s been given a fair shake by the legal system. It continues a long line of recent interviews and letters that indicate that Tip is struggling with his latest incarceration.
Do you feel that you’ve been treated unfairly?
If I place my value in the way humans treat me, then maybe. But they’re human, man ― they can’t help themselves. They do that to people they know personally. So how can I expect them to treat me, only knowing me through television? They did that to Jesus. They did that to Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali. They did it to every great person you could possibly think of. When it was all good, they was with them. When things got bad, then they was against them.
How did you get a drug habit?
I had a lot of work done to my teeth. Oral surgery, extractions, six, seven, eight root canals. Between January to February. As soon as I got out, I had a lot of stuff done. In the joint, you eat s— that is unhealthy for you. I had fillings that fell out and stuff that had to get dealt with. Of course for the pain they gave me oxycontin and hydrocodone. And, mind you, on Oct. 13, 2007, I had cut off everything — weed, alcohol. Then I get these pills and I start taking them for the pain at first. And then I’m like, wait ― this s— makes me feel good. And it’s legal. After the pain went away, I kept taking it. I had like five, six prescriptions. So I had, like 80 pills. Everybody else might have a drink or smoke a blunt, I took a pain pill. Times when I had 18-, 20-hour days, I’d take a pain pill. And eventually I developed ― I guess ― the beginning stages of dependence.
This cover is set to hit newsstands in December. So, ro family, do you think T.I. has been treated unfairly? And do you think he had the right to place himself in the same breath as Jesus, MLK and Malcolm X? Let’s talk about it. –djr
