The king of the south is at this year’s ONE Musicfest

The King of the South is coming to the lawn

By: Shevonne Goree

[*Views expressed are solely the opinion of the author]

After rising to the top of the rap game, self proclaimed King of the South, introduced us to trap music and created a wave of rappers that we still have in our musical rotation today.

Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., known to the world as T.I. (or Tip) was came on to the music scene in the late 1990s, being signed to LaFace Records and soon afterward, formed the southern hip-hop collective, PSC in 2001. The rapper has released 9 studio albums during his tenure and has collaborated with artists like Justin Timberlake, Jazze Pha, Lil Wayne, and Rihanna.

T.I. has earned 3 Grammys and doesn’t seem to be slowing up anytime soon.

In 2003, Harris formed Grand Hustle Records, also known as Hustle Gang Music, and introduced the word to artists such as B.o.B, Young Dro, and Trae the Truth, and Iggy Azalea.

The world and hip-hop scene embraced T.I. as an artist, and he went on to show more sides of him. While still being involved with his music career, he transitioned into reality tv. VH1’s, “T.I. and Tiny’s Family Hustle” featured the crazy life of his big family and equally talented wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris. We watched as the family grew up together in their hometown of Atlanta. Six years of sharing their lives made us laugh, cry, and heavily relate to the family of hip-hop royalty.

Now that we know T.I. well enough to call him a southern legend, he’s showing us his business side! He has partnered up with BET to give us, “The Grand Hustle”.

The business-oriented show airs July 19th. It will highlight the paths of 16 entrepreneurs and put them head to head to see who will best represent Grand Hustle Records. The winner of the show will receive a position with the legendary record label and a 6-figure salary. From book smarts to street smarts, T.I. is looking to find the top hustler of them all! We’re excited to see the businessman behind the family man.

DID YOU KNOW ...

-Tip saved a life. Back in 2010, while listening to the radio, T.I. heard reports of a 24-year-old Atlanta man getting ready to jump off a building in an attempt to end his life. After learning about the situation, he drove to the scene and asked police if he could help. After they agreed, T.I. stepped in and talked him off the 22nd floor of a building window.

-A man of many names! The Atlanta legend was born Clifford Harris Jr. But when T.I. first got started out in the rap game, he went by Tip. It was what everyone in his family called him as a child and was the only stage name he knew. Once he got signed, however, he had to change his name out of respect for his labelmate, Q-Tip. An executive producer decided he should drop the ‘P’ and T.I. was born! He still likes to refer to himself as Tip sometimes on his grown and sexy records.

-He's always been an entrepreneur One of the most famous Atlanta strip clubs, V-Live is Tip’s very own. After opening its doors in 2016 the club has been named dropped probably more than the rapper himself. Big names such as Future and Gucci Mane let us know on a song or two that the strip club is one of the prime spots to hit in Atlanta.

To see T.I.

and more of your favorite artists, be sure to grab your ONE Musicfest tickets and meet us on the lawn September 8-9.