Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr. (born September 25, 1980), better known by his stage name T.I. or T.I.P., is an American recording artist, producer and actor. He is the founder and co-chief executive officer (CEO) of Grand Hustle Records.

Life and career
Early life and career beginnings

T.I. was born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. on September 25, 1980, in Riverdale, Atlanta, Georgia, to the son of the late Clifford "Buddy" Harris Sr. and Violeta Morgan. Raised by his grandparents in Bankhead, Atlanta, Georgia. His father lived in New York and he would often go up there to visit him. Clifford Sr. suffered from Alzheimer's and later died from the disease. T.I began rapping at age seven. He attended Douglass High School. Going against his mother's wishes for wanting him to stay in school, he would often cut class and hung out with other crowds. As a teenager, he was a drug dealer. He was once known as Rubber Band Man, a reference to the custom of wearing rubber bands around the wrist to denote wealth in terms of drugs or money. By age 14, he had been arrested several times. He was nicknamed "Tip" after his paternal great-grandfather. Kawan "KP" Prather, a record executive, discovered and signed T.I. when he was a teenager. Upon signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 2001, he shortened his name to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip.

Business Ventures

Forbes Magazine announced its first ever Hiphop Cash Kings list early 2007 with list of the top 20 hip hop earning artists for the 2006 business year. T.I. was number sixteen with an earning of $16 million. In 2008, he earned $13 million. and in 2009, he earned $8 million during his prison sentence.

T.I. opened his own nightclub, Club Crucial in Bankhead, Atlanta. It is considered one of the most popular clubs in Atlanta. It caters the crowd with a full entertain centers such as large flat screen TVs, pool rooms, VIP rooms, food, etc. Celebrities such as Monica, Big Boi, Mike Epps, Shawty Lo make appearances to the establishment. The club also host weekly event such as such as Monday night's Open Mic Night, Free Fridays, and Celebrity Saturdays where local hip-hop artists are known to some to come perform their songs at the club.

Chevrolet secured an endorsement deal with T.I. earlier in 2007 to promote their line of cars, with a focus on the new Impala. Due to his arrest for federal gun charges, he was on the verge of losing his deal with the company.

T.I. had an endorsement with an social networking website focusing on the hip-hop culture named StreetCred. The website was found in 2007 by investment banker named Rocky Williform. Celebrities such as Diddy, Lil Kim, and Jeezy had accounts on the website. As of 2008, the website was temporarily down unknown that site will be back up.

Other Ventures
Film acting

In 2006 T.I. starred in his first film, ATL. The other cast members included Lauren London, Antoine Patton, Evan Ross, Mykelti Williamson, Jason Weaver, and Keith David. The movie was written by Tina Gordon Chism and Antwone Fisher, produced by Timothy M. Bourne, Tionne Watkins, and Will Smith, and directed by Christopher Robinson. T.I. played the character Rashad Swann, an orphaned 17-year-old senior in high school. In its opening weekend, the film grossed a total of $11.5 million, ranking third in the United States box office, and went on to gross $21.2 million.

He also appeared in American Gangster with fellow rappers Common and RZA as Stevie Lucas, Drugpin Frank Lucas' nephew, and was featured on the soundtrack.

T.I. starred in an upcoming 2010 crime thriller film Takers (originally called Bone Deep) which is directed by John Luessenhop. It also includes cast, Chris Brown, Idris Elba, Matt Dillon, Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen, and Zoe Saldana. The film is scheduled to be released on August 20, 2010 around the time T.I. will release his upcoming seventh studio album.

Producing

T.I. was co-executive producer of B.G.'s upcoming album and making beats for artists like Mariah Carey, Cassidy, Rick Ross, Maino, B.o.B., Yung Joc, Young Dro, and himself. He also executive produced the soundtrack to the film Hustle & Flow and released the collection through his record label.
T.I. also a songwriter. He has credits from Diddy, Dr. Dre, and Bow Wow.

Television producing

T.I. launched his film company, Grand Hustle Films. Late 2007, T.I. linked up with Los Angeles based production company 828 Entertainment to executive produce a new reality show titled Life on Mars which chronicles the life of young prodigy music producer LaMar "MARS" Edwards. T.I. partnered 828 Entertainment with his company Grand Hustle Records to produce a slate of both television and film projects. He also created a reality show on MTV called "T.I.'s Road to Redemption". T.I. is also the executive producer of his upcoming film Takers.

Community work

In addition to helping with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, T.I. worked with troubled youths at Paulding Detention Center in Atlanta, provided scholarships for single parent families at Boys and Girls Clubs, and headlined the Boost Mobile Rockcorps concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such performers as Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and Kanye West, and was held exclusively for community service volunteers. As part of his community service time, T.I. has come to a number of middle-grade and high schools in Georgia, where he speaks with the students in an assembly holding a positive message, while maintaining a philathropic view about morals and growing up in the same areas as himself. In June 2005, The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Foundation, named for the deceased member of multi-platinum female group TLC, and Atlanta's V-103 honored T.I. with the 2005 Lisa Lopes Award for groundbreaking achievements in music and community service which was court ordered. With this steady list of growing accomplishments T.I. is being recognized as the "Jay-Z of the South," according to Pharrell Williams of multi-platinum production team The Neptunes.

T.I.'s night club, Club Crucial, hosted a giveaway of 200 bicycles to neighborhood children in the Boys and Girls Club with V-103 announcer Greg Street.

Personal life

T.I. has been in a relationship with former Xscape member Tameka "Tiny" Cottle since 2001. Together, they have two sons: Clifford 'King' Joseph III and Major Philant. Their daughter, Llayah Amour, was stillborn six months into a complicated pregnancy. He has two sons with ex-girlfriend Lashon Dixon: Domani Uriah and Messiah Ya'Majesty. T.I also has a daughter named Deyjah Imani from another relationship.

Legal issues

T.I. was on probation stemming from a 1998 conviction for violating a state controlled substances act and for giving false information. After being released on probation, he earned a litany of probation violations in several counties around Georgia for offenses ranging from possession of a firearm to possession of marijuana. In 2006, after appearing in an Atlanta court on (May 10) and having charges that he threatened a man outside a strip club last year dropped for lack of evidence, T.I. was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant from Florida. The warrant claimed that T.I. did not complete the required number of community service hours he was sentenced for a 2003 assault of a female sheriff deputy at University Mall in Tampa. T.I. was detained by several mall Security Guards at the time of the incident. According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the rapper’s attorney said that the problem was nothing more than a "technical matter" between Georgia and Florida. The confusion arose because T.I. was also sentenced to community service in Georgia for driving with a suspended license, for which he did complete 75 hours of community service in his home state. The rapper was released on bail shortly after being arrested, and was expected to surrender to Florida state authorities the following week to resolve the matter.

On November 21, 2008, T.I. testified in the murder trial of a member of his entourage and a close friend, Philant Johnson (1980–2006), who was murdered in a shooting that occurred after a post-concert party at a club. T.I. has dedicated several songs to Johnson, from the single version of "Live in the Sky" to his more recent hit "Dead and Gone" where Johnson's grave can be seen in the video.

On March 27, 2009, U.S. District Judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. sentenced T.I. to one year and one day in prison and ordered to pay $100,300 for federal weapons charges; T.I. had his sentence reduced from a maximum 10 years and a $250,000 fine with a plea bargain. On May 26, 2009, T.I. began serving his sentence in Forrest City, Arkansas. He is to be released on March 26, 2010. When released from FCC Forrest City, he will be subject to an audit of his finances, drug counseling, DNA testing, and random searches of his property. Two days prior to being imprisoned, T.I. performed a farewell concert at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. T.I. was released from FCC Forrest City on December 22, 2009 and was moved into a halfway house in Atlanta. T.I. had the Federal Bureau of Prisons ID 59458-019 and was released from CCM Atlanta on March 26, 2010.