T.I. has been honored with the Phoenix Award in his hometown of Atlanta for his philanthropic efforts in the community as well as his entertainment contributions.
The award – which is considered ATL’s “highest honor” – was presented to the rapper, actor and philanthropist on Friday (December 29), following his second of two concerts at the Atlanta Symphony Hall celebrating the 20th anniversary of his breakout albumTrap Muzik.
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Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens, former Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, Senator Raphael Warnock and Phillana Williams presented the accolade on stage.
In an exclusive statement to HipHopDX about the honor, Tip said: “Humbly honored for us to have received this highest honor by Mayor Andre Dickens and the City of Atlanta. Dis is for Trap Muzik, 20 years later. Happy to have shared this illustrious moment wit my wife and the rest of my family, along wit da people in da City.”
You can view footage from the moment below:
T.I. has been very active in his community for years. Just this past November, the “Live Your Life” hitmaker opened the doors on an affordable Atlanta housing complex he’d been working on for years with his wife, Tiny Harris.
The Intrada Westside includes 143 apartments and 25 special units for homeless youth. In a full-circle moment, the site they built on — which sits across from Center Hill Park in northwest Atlanta — was once a grocery store where Tip’s grandmother would shop at.
T.I. first announced plans for the housing community in 2021.
It was also revealed last month that he and Killer Mike had gotten one major step closer to reopening a historic seafood restaurant in their hometown of Atlanta — securing a loan which will boost job opportunities around the Bankhead Seafood location and invest in the community.
The loan was backed by the Georgia Banking Company, and described as marking a “pivotal moment in the growth of Bankhead Seafood, a restaurant deeply rooted in the local community.”
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As previously reported, Bankhead Seafood announced it was closing in January 2018 after more than 50 years of serving the Atlanta area. In an effort to save it, Killer Mike and T.I. bought the business in 2019 along with the name, trademark and official recipes. COVID certainly slowed the process, but in 2021, they filed building permits to rebuild it, and it’s currently scheduled for a spring 2024 re-opening.
