Hip-hop isn’t short of its crack-dealer-to-rapper entrepreneurial figures, those who have come from nothing to something and want to constantly remind listeners of that fact.
As fans we soak it up – it’s a great feeling to hear someone enjoying their success. It’s commonly the case that said artist has escaped their past and is happy to be leaving everything behind. This is inspirational, and we can’t fault anyone who has made his or her life better. But for some, this isn’t enough. They want to make a difference for those who might face the same tribulations in the future. This is something that Atlanta rap superstar T.I. is staring right in the face.
When Clash was invited to RCA’s London offices for a preview of his ninth studio album, ‘Paperwork’, we were hit by lines like “Crack rock, hip-hop, I done all that”, “Standing at the corner store with a pocket full of dough” and “Had a notebook full of rhymes and a pocket full of crack rock dimes”. It seemed like on every track Tip was reminding us of his past, until we reached the final track that we would be played that day.
Titled simply ‘New National Anthem’, the song sees T.I. peeling away romanticised American ideals, revealing the layers that many patriots would rather conceal. As Eminem’s go-to guest vocalist Skylar Grey opens with the song’s poppy, anthemic hook, T.I. refers to his native soil as “the land of the handgun”, explaining: “You’re dead if you ain’t got one.”
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‘New National Anthem’
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Artists, first and foremost, have a responsibility to entertain and deliver the best possible product for your money…
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He justifies himself: “It was like this before I got here baby, I ain’t do it. I ain’t start it, I was just a part of it.” The song is political yet accessible, and while T.I. states over its opening that it isn’t a song that will be played on the radio, it’s clearly intended for mass consumption.
On 19th August 2014, 10 days after a white police officer gunned down 18-year-old Mike Brown, and in the midst of the resulting riots in Ferguson, Missouri, T.I. put out a touching post via his Instagram account, berating America for creating a monster and explaining that it is “The result of ignoring & mishandling an already fragile spirited, recently enslaved, presently oppressed race/generation of people.” And along with this he dropped the song, ahead of any label schedules and marketing plans.
“I felt like the nation needed to hear it,” he tells us months later. The second verse touches on Trayvon Martin, who was murdered in Florida in 2012 while walking home from a store after buying an iced tea and a bag of Skittles.
While many other artists felt a similar need to voice their opinion on the Ferguson situation, T.I. doesn’t believe that speaking on social issues is a responsibility that all rappers are cut out for.
“I think artists, first and foremost, have a responsibility to entertain and deliver the best possible product for your money,” he explains. “And secondly, if that artist is talented in the area of leadership and they are passionate about making a difference, I think then they can accept the responsibility of leading the masses. But I don’t think that just because you’re an artist that you’re obligated, you have to have a strength in that area in order to even be considered.”
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‘No Mediocre’
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It feels like T.I.’s own concerns are drawn from issues that he has dealt with first hand. In 2007, when charged with two firearms-related felonies, he began working with Andrew Young, a civil rights activist who was a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Young later became the mayor of T.I.’s native Atlanta, and the rapper now describes him as a mentor.
“I actually went to his house; he called me there and we sat down and spoke. He just helped me deal with the situation that I was [in], helping me to rationalise the outcome of it, and from there our relationship just grew. He’s asked me to do things with him, that I definitely obliged to do and we just continued a personal relationship from there.”
The relationship has had a profound impact on T.I.’s music ever since, and never more than on ‘Paperwork’, which feels well thought out and inspirational. He wants to teach through his mistakes rather than glorify negatives, but never gets too preachy.
Three songs on ‘Paperwork’ concern the tragic passing of a young man close to T.I.’s heart. Glenn Thomas, AKA Doe B, a 22-year-old signee of Tip’s Grand Hustle imprint, was shot and killed on 28th December 2013, due to an on-going dispute he had with another young man. The most heart wrenching of these songs, ‘Light ‘Em Up (RIP Doe B)’, was recorded that very evening, with producer Pharrell Williams. The pair was expecting Doe to arrive the following day to work on the album, and Pharrell pushed T.I. to put his feelings into a song.
“It was difficult, but it was necessary,” says T.I., “and I’m glad that we did [it].” The track is sandwiched between a moody track called ‘On Doe, On Phil’, and an uplifting ballad called ‘Let Your Heart Go’, which features vocals from The-Dream. On this trio of tracks, T.I. reflects the mourning process as well as the dark and light sides of death, celebrating the lives of those who have passed from his life.
It’s commonplace for rappers to celebrate their criminal pasts, wearing their street credentials as bragging rights. But in Tip’s music they are necessary tools in connecting with the audience he hopes to influence.
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‘G’ Shit’ (live at the iHeartRadio Theatre, Los Angeles)
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I know what it’s like to feel like your section or area of society has been forgotten about…
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“I think that you have to have an ability to relate to the people who you’re trying to assist,” he says of the young people who find themselves caught up in the life he experienced pre-success. “If you can’t relate to them your leadership will probably be misplaced. First they’ve got to know that you understand what they go through and [that] you come from a similar background as the environment that they exist in presently. And after that your suggestions are held in higher regard and they have a better ability to understand where you’re coming from.”
It feels as though Tip has achieved the balance between entertainer and community leader. We won’t catch him running for mayor any time soon, but he tries to do his best where he can (in an interview with Power 105.1’s The Breakfast Club, he talks of three separate incidents in which he has endeavoured to save lives, one of which included talking someone down from a ledge). He draws this inspiration from his own youth.
“I guess just coming from a certain part of the community that is unserved,” he considers. “I know what it’s like to feel like your section or area of society has been forgotten about.”
This is what makes T.I.’s music so relatable to his listeners. It guarantees that whether or not he manages to achieve success with a mainstream pop single, he will be a mainstay on the US Billboard Album charts (on which he hit number two with ‘Paperwork’).
“I think that everyone deserves a voice. Everyone deserves to have representation, everyone deserves to be spoken for, everyone deserves for their concerns to be taken into consideration. And I think that if I can assist in any way that I’ll be the first in line to do so.”
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Words: Grant Brydon
T.I. online. ‘Paperwork’ is out now on Columbia.
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