T.I. says his Hustle Gang apparel is not affiliated with AKOO, speaks on having worked with Meek Mill while recording “Paper Trail.”

Prior to being signed to Maybach Music Group, Philly rapper Meek Mill enjoyed a brief stint at T.I.’s Grand Hustle and during an interview with DJ Whoo Kid, T.I. spoke on the times he was able to work with Meek Mill while he was a Grand Hustle artist.

The Atlanta rapper specifically recalled a time in which he worked with both Meek Mill and the late Dolla while recording his Paper Trail album in Los Angeles.

“Meek is the homie man. When I first was introduced to Meek he was still freestyling on the corners of Philly, North Philly, South Philly. Nigga had long motherfuckin braids man. He was a cool cat though,” said T.I. in a video posted on RapRadar. “My partner Charlie Mack actually brought him out to L.A. to kick it with me and it was me, him, and Dolla – rest in peace to my homeboy Dolla. Me, him, and Dolla we had probably two week’s worth of sessions during the time when I was recording Paper Trail.”

T.I. also spoke on his Hustle Gang apparel, which he says was inspired by Baby and Young Money/Cash Money’s “YMCMB” t-shirts, and revealed that the merchandise is not affiliated at all with his AKOO clothing line.

“It is not necessarily a clothing line. It’s an exclusive merch item coming from Grand Hustle Gang,” T.I. explained. “It is not AKOO. You know what I’m saying? And it is not in competition with AKOO. It’s just us extending ourselves to the rest of the public because up until now we always kept our shit exclusive for us. And we never let it out to the people.”

T.I.’s last studio album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head, was released on December 18 and is expected to sell about 150,000 to 170,000 copies in its first week.