T.I.

Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), better known by the stage names T.I. and Tip (often stylized as TIP or T.I.P.), is an American rapper.

Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris is known as one of the pioneers of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane.

Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. was born on September 25, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Clifford "Buddy" Harris Sr. and Violeta Morgan.

He was raised by his grandparents in Atlanta's Center Hill neighborhood just off Bankhead Highway and lived in Bankhead.

His father resided in New York City, and he would often go there to visit.

Buddy suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died from the disease.

Harris began rapping at age eight.

His stage name originally came from his childhood nickname "Tip", after his paternal great-grandfather.

He was once known as Rubber Band Man, a reference to the custom of wearing rubber bands around the wrist to denote wealth in terms of drugs or money.

Harris first became aquainted with local music executive Kawan "KP" Prather, and joined his company Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment by the late 1990s.

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.

He was led to sign his first major-label record deal in 1999 with its parent company LaFace Records, an imprint of Arista Records.

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:

"'We were both on Arista and we was trying to release my first album. The people who had to market, promote, and, you know, just spread the word on it communicated that it was somewhat difficult or confusing to have two Tips in one building. So out of respect and just the legendary reputation and career that preceded that situation, I definitely conceded. My problem, or conflict, at the time, was now this is what I've been called all my life, what do I change my name to? So, I guess, that began to hold my project up. 'What are we gonna call him?' You know what I'm saying? So at that point we had to come to some sort of a resolution. And KP, who signed me to LaFace, he just said, 'OK, look man, how about T.I.?' Cause on this one record I had, it was like, 'T-I-P.' I was like, 'Wait a minute, wait a minute. No. That was — you left out a letter still!' You know what I'm saying? He was like, 'Well, listen man.

You got something better?', 'No, I don't have — I don't have anything better.' 'Well, that's what we going with, man.' So it's kinda how it came about.'"

Harris, a three Grammy Award winner, is often described as a leading figure in hip hop music during the 2000s, particularly in Southern hip hop.

He has received 19 nominations for the award, as well as 12 Billboard Music Awards, three BET Awards, and two American Music Awards.

Prominent industry artists have signed to T.I. through his Grand Hustle Records label since its formation, including Travis Scott, B.o.B, and Iggy Azalea.

In his acting career, Harris has starred in the films ATL, Takers, Get Hard, Identity Thief, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man and its sequel, as well as the reality television series T.I.'s Road to Redemption, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle, and The Grand Hustle.

By the end of the decade, Billboard ranked him as the 27th best artist of the 2000s.

His debut studio album, I'm Serious (2001) was met with lukewarm commercial reception and became his only release with the label.

He then signed with Atlantic Records, where he soon reached his mainstream breakthrough and co-founded his own label imprint, Grand Hustle Records by 2003.

Harris first gained national recognition following his high-profile guest feature on fellow Atlanta-based rapper Bone Crusher's 2003 single "Never Scared".

Harris saw wider critical and commercial success with the release of his second album Trap Muzik (2003), which included the Billboard Hot 100-top 40 singles "Rubber Band Man" and "Let's Get Away" (featuring Jazze Pha).

The following year, Harris guest appeared alongside Lil Wayne on Destiny's Child's hit single "Soldier", and capitalized on this with the release of his third album, Urban Legend (2004).

His next three studio albums each debuted atop the Billboard 200 chart; his fourth and fifth, King (2006) and T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007) were met with further success and led by the Billboard Hot 100-top ten singles, "What You Know" and "Big Shit Poppin' (Do It)", respectively.

Harris' sixth album, Paper Trail (2008) remains his most successful release to date, as it received gold certification for first-week sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States.

It spawned two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" (featuring Rihanna); the latter replaced the former atop the chart, and made Harris the first rapper to do so while occupying its top two positions.

Following an eleven-month incarceration, he released his seventh studio album, No Mercy (2010) to mixed reviews and a commercial decline.

He is also a published author of two novels, Power & Beauty (2011) and Trouble & Triumph (2012).

His eighth album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head (2012) was met with a dual rebound.

Harris guest featured alongside Pharrell Williams on Robin Thicke's 2013 single "Blurred Lines", which peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and 22 other countries.

The following year, his contract with Atlantic expired; he signed with Columbia Records and enlisted Williams as executive producer for his ninth studio album, Paperwork (2014).

As with his previous, it reached number two on the Billboard 200 and saw positive critical reception.

The following year, he worked further with album collaborator and then-upcoming hometown native Young Thug to form the short-lived hip hop collective, Bankroll Mafia.

He signed with Jay-Z's Roc Nation in 2016 to release his political Us or Else (2016–2017) extended play series and compilation album, We Want Smoke (2017); he later signed with Epic Records in 2018 to release his long-delayed tenth album, Dime Trap in October of that year.

His eleventh album, The L.I.B.R.A. (2020) was first independent studio release.

His twelfth album, Kill the King was announced as his final, although its release slate remains unclear.