T.I.-King Of The South
The founder of Grand Hustle Records, Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr., or T.I., is an American hip hop artist, music producer and actor. Born in Riverdale and raised in Bankhead, Atlanta, T.I. was raised by his grandparents. He started rapping at age seven and was discovered by Kawan Prather, his great-grandfather, as a teenager.T.I.’s Early CareerAfter being signed by KP to Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment, T.I.’s debut album, I’m Serious, was released through Arista Records. His debut single featured Beenie Man and was released on June 26, 2001. The “I’m Serious” single failed to chart and received almost no airplay. The album peaked at 98 and only sold 163,000 copies. The album’s poor reception forced Arista Records to drop him.Grand Hustle EntertainmentT.I.mixtapeswere released under his own label, Grand Hustle Entertainment, with the assistance of DJ Drama. In 2003, fellow Atlanta rapper Bone Crusher featured T.I. on his single “Never Scared.” T.I. mixtapes and the exposure from this song recaptured attention from major record labels and eventually caused Atlantic Records to offer a joint venture deal to T.I.Trap Muzik was released on August 19,2003 through Grand Hustle Records and debuted at number four on the charts. It was produced by David Banner, DJ Toomp, Jazze Pha, Kanye West and Madvac and had guest appearances by Bun B, Eightball & MJG, Jazze Pha and Macboney. T.I.’s third album, Urban Legend, was released in November 2004 and debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200. It sold 193,000 copies its first week. King debuted in 2006 and sold over half a million copies in its first week. Although little attention was given to its singles, King was nominated for multiple awards including a Grammy Award.T.I. vs. T.I.P., released on July 3,2007, Paper Trail in September 2008 and is currently working on King Uncaged. Each of these releases were offset by numerous court appearances, resulting in incarceration. T.I. was released on March 26, 2010 after serving three months in a halfway house and seven months in prison from his 2007 felony arrest for possessing unregistered machine guns.A T.I. mixtape was released on May 27, 2010, entitled “F*** a Mixtape.” Many felt the name was controversial and was dissing the T.I. mixed tapeformat. T.I. stated that it was a response to people telling him to just focus on making an album and not a T.I. mixtape. Other VenturesT.I. is not just known for his T.I. mixed tapes and studio albums. He has many successful business ventures, including a nightclub and endorsement deals. He has also performed production work and acted in numerous television shows and films.
