T.I. has a lot to be thankful for these days. After being released from federal custody less than a month ago, the Grammy-winning emcee is once again reunited with his family and seemingly well on his way back to the top of the music scene. Though many are praising the emcee’s return, T.I. has also endured his fair share of questions and criticism surrounding his near back to back prison stints over the last few years. Despite T.I.’s earlier claim that he would not explain himself to his critics, he’s now chosen to respond to his detractors and explain his side of his tumultuous story.
According to HipHopDX, in an interview with DJ Funkmaster Flex on Oct. 18, T.I. talked about his rough upbringing and it’s influence on his choices as an adult and explained that breaking those long-developed bad habits from his youth is easier said than done.
“I’ve been rippin’ and runnin’ and doing what I’ve been doing since I was 12, 13, 14 years-old okay?” he said. “I’d say I [first] got in trouble when I was 27-years-old. That’s thirteen years when I was doing what I was doing. So since I was 27–I’m 31 now–that’s four years. So you mean to tell me that I can develop all these habits over the course of thirteen years, and you want me to kick [those habits] before four years? All of them? Ya’ll gon’ have to work with me.”
Tip continued, “You might say, ‘I don’t see why he did that again’ … It might not have took [sic] that long for you because you did not begin in the place where I began. Your circumstances were not my circumstances. … People who know my circumstances and where I came from, they are applauding me. Standing ovations.”
Turning the tables on his detractors, T.I. then questioned the moral compass of his critcs and argued that, beyond his faults, he’s still a good man.
“In a day and age where a man is judged more on the mistakes that he makes, more so than the character of that man and the pure intent within his heart–so you mean to tell me that if I made no mistakes and kept a clean face but I was just a dirty, grimy slimeball–you mean to tell me you’d rather have that T.I? Or would you rather have the guy that struggles within himself because he still cares about people?”
What are your thoughts on T.I.’s interview and his incarcerations? –nicholas robinson
