After announcing his forthcoming album Paper Trail will be given an earlier release date of August 12, T.I. also provided some details on the subject of his sixth album to BET‘s Touré. During Wednesday’s airing of the exclusive T.I. Speaks, the multi-platinum artist ventured away from the typical talk of the album’s featured producers and collaborators and spoke on how his upcoming prison time will affect his subject matter.
“My music has always been a reflection of society [and] of what my experiences were,” says T.I.“This is no different. Of course, there are certain elements that once existed in my life that no longer exist. So it will change to a certain degree, but it will still have that same edge to it. I can’t really talk as elaborately about guns and drugs in my music to come, because it’s non existent.”
After pleading guilty to multiple charges associated with his illegal purchase of unregistered weapons in October of 2007, T.I. will face one year in prison, a $100,000 fine and 1,000 hours of community service. T.I. will begin serving his term no later than March 7, 2009. In the meantime, he will attempt to buck industry trends by releasing a platinum album and appearing in one of the country’s top-earning movies for the third consecutive summer.
In 2006 ATL grossed $11.55 million during its first week while the album King debuted at number one on Billboard‘s charts by selling 468,000 copies in one week. The following year, the album T.I. vs. T.I.P. sold 467,000 copies during its initial week of release as American Gangster posted a first week gross of $43.56 million. After the August release of Paper Trail, T.I. will also be featured in the New Line feature film, For Sale. Audio of an additional interview with Hot 107.9 and he first single from Paper Trail, “No Matter What,” are both currently available in the HipHopDXaudio section.
