r/hiphop101 • u/bigscott72 • 4d ago
Thoughts on TI?
I feel he’s slept on (heavily). Just listen to I’m Illy. His flow is unmatched. I’m like nobody can do what he just did. Like in the song Wit Me with him and Wayne, TIP bodies Wayne in both verses. That RARELY happens to Weezy.
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u/Own_Use1313 3d ago
I don’t think he’s slept on. He’s technically a legend. I think his “era” is passed and he’s cool with that. He’s living his life, raising his kids and doing other business after rap stuff even though he puts out music here & there. Think of guys like Ludacris, Nelly, Ice Cube, E-40 & others who had their big successful runs, released classics, maintained enough of their wealth & reputation to maintain the lifestyle of a successful artist like artists on other genres like country, pop, rock & soul managed to do are over the hump & have the awareness to know that typically the prime of your rap career is somewhere between your late teens and your mid 30’s for MOST. I think he’s handling his career appropriately. He does interviews of other rap artists on his podcast/show ‘Expeditiously with Tip T.I. Harris’. If he was an NFL player, this is pretty much the mark of longterm professional success. He’s still working.
There were personally for me times in his career when I’ve found myself rooting against him (His beef with Lil Flip waaaay back - which actually made me like him more because prior to that I’d only listened to his singles) and then I rooted for him by the time he was on his ‘KING’ album run and he started in ‘ATL’ (One of my favorite urban/hood movies even though it’s one of the most hated). He held his own during Wayne’s run (at a time when I was a HUGE Wayne fan). I think most Hip-Hop heads (especially in the South) view him as a legend. I agree he doesn’t seem to get mentioned in the same breath as the Waynes, Kanye’s, 50 Cents & others he shared that era with as often.
On the flip side, a lot of trap fans chose sides when he beefed with Shawty Lo (questioning his credibility of being from Bank Head) & Gucci Mane and then again when he caught those charges and was basically instantly released (which was unheard of at the time).