—————————————————— T.I. | Music | Houston | Houston Press | The Leading Independent News Source in Houston, Texas

T.I.

With smash single "Whatever You Like" racking up almost 140 million plays on T.I.'s MySpace page since last summer, one would think the Atlanta rapper would be planning a massive arena tour to capitalize. He's been plastered all over music rags like Blender and Vibe in the past few months, performing on Saturday Night Live and earning a Grammy nomination. But in actuality, the only thing Clifford Harris has planned for the next year is three hots and a cot, and maybe some sweet weight-room time. After five full albums, assorted mix tapes and a supporting role in American Gangster, T.I. was nicely coming into his own — until he got busted buying machine guns from his bodyguard in October 2007. Since he was already a convicted felon, jail time was a certainty and soon the Trap Muzik-maker was sentenced to a one-year federal bid due to begin at the end of this month. Luckily, he recorded over one hundred tracks for the platinum Paper Trail, which sees the rapper collaborating with the likes of Rihanna, John Legend and Justin Timberlake.

KEEP THE HOUSTON PRESS FREE... Since we started the Houston Press, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Houston, and we'd like to keep it that way. With local media under siege, it's more important than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" program, allowing us to keep offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food and culture with no paywalls.
Craig Hlavaty
Contact: Craig Hlavaty