T.I. has likened himself to a hybrid of JAY-Z, 2Pac, Diddy and Snoop Dogg, explaining that he’s taken pages out of their respective books to mold his career.
Speaking to Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast on Monday (January 23), Tip discussed the artists he likes to compare himself to based on the knowledge he’s soaked up from each one of the greats that came before him.
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According to the King rapper, he can hop in and out of different spaces thanks to legends he idolizes. “I see myself as a hybrid kind of between, I guess, Jay, ‘Pac, Puff and like a Snoop, you know what I’m saying?” T.I. explained.
“I kind of hop in and out and take pages out of the book of legends, and I’ve been fortunate enough and blessed enough to be able to have these relationships where I could sit and engage and soak up game.”
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He added: “People like E-40, people like Too $hort, people like IQ, people like Master P, people like Jay Prince, people like Russell Simmon, people like Puff, People like Jay, you know I’m saying.”
Check out Tip’s interview with Shannon below:
T.I. has become a legend in his own right, ushering in trap music which has gone on to become more than just a sound in the culture. He dropped his debut album, I’m Serious, in 2001 which was poorly received commercially. However, T.I. found his groove two years later with his sophomore album Trap Muzik which debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, moving 110,000 units in its first week.
Since then, T.I. has earned three Grammys, built a discography that includes seven Top 5 records on the Billboard 200 chart and a successful film and television career.
In another segment from his interview on Club Shay Shay, Tip revealed he passed up signing Young Thug and 21 Savage for $1million. According to T.I., both artists wanted to sign a seven-figure deal with his Grand Hustle label, but he chose not to due to the amount he’d have to take from them in return.
“At this point in my career, I find it honorable to be able to tell new artists when they come up to me,” he said. “You know, 21 Savage, [Young] Thug. A lot of them come up to me, ‘Aye man, give me a million, Tip. I don’t care what you do, just give me a million and let me handle it from there.’
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“Like nah, I ain’t gonna do that, because if I give you a million, I gotta take back something that’s gonna be worth way more, and we ain’t gon’ be able to be friends from there. I always tell ’em, man, ‘Don’t worry about the money up front ’cause it’s gon’ come.'”
He added: “I remember telling that to Slime, I remember telling that to 21. And even Savage, every time he sees me now, he’ll hit me and say, ‘Aye, it came.’ And that puts a smile on my face because I just know how impactful every generation has the opportunity to be even more than the last.”
