Clifford Joseph Harris is living as if his days on earth are numbered. The rap impresario has been on a tear since the jail warden unlocked those cages a couple of months back.
T.I. is starring in the motion picture Takers opposite Chris Brown, Michael Ealy and Idris Elba, which comes out Aug. 20. He’s in talks with his crew about the possibility of doing a follow-up to his gritty urban classic ATL, which starred that dimpled diva Lauren London. He’s doing his King Camp that works with underprivileged youth of Atlanta. And, of course, there is the album King Uncaged, which represents the latest chapter in the controversial rapper’s life.
Now, Tip has announced that he’s going to be the face of Remy Martin cognac. In fact, he told radio station V-103 in Atlanta that he just returned from Cognac, France, where he put the finishing touches on the deal.
As for an ATL 2, Tip said he is real hesitant to touch something that impacted so many lives. “We’ve been tossing that around for quite some time,” he told 107.9’s Ricky Smiley. “ATL was real and [relatable] to a lot of people’s lives. If we do it, it has to be correct. I don’t want to mess that up. If we find a way to do that, I’m in.”
As far as his album is concerned, King Uncaged represents a closing of a turbulent chapter in T.I.’s life that included the cold-blooded murder of his friend on a tour bus in Cincinnati and his apprehension and conviction on felony weapons charges.
“I feel like the whole project should celebrate success. And it’s the ending of a period of my life. It’s the final installation of a trilogy. All this really started with the death of my partner Big Phil. That changed my whole outlook on life. It changed how I acted. T.I. vs T.I.P., that was the beginning.”
T.I. wants to help give a new beginning to a lot of troubled kids’ lives through his foundation. The biggest thing he has learned from working with these kids, he says is,
“Most kids who society have labeled bad seeds or troubled children, they act out [due] to hopelessness or desperation. He feels like his options are limited.”