Tip is back and better than ever!
GlobalGrind caught up with T.I. and talked about everything from growing up in Atlanta to his clothing line Akoo, his personal style and so much more.
DETAILS: T.I. Says Some Gays Are Just Too Sensitive!
Find out more about the fresh and free rapper with this exclusive interview about T.I.’s personal style and some things you can expect from his new show, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle, which airs tonight, December 5th at 9pm on VH1.
GlobalGrind: Growing up in Atlanta what were the consequences of not having your gear together?
T.I : You just become the butt of all the jokes. You can get used to being picked on or you learn how to fight. Even more so than the gear, it wasn’t even always what you had, it was how you used what you had. What you chose to rock and how, that was more important a lot of times than just having. Because if you go and you get a lot of expensive sh*t than you don’t really get a lot of credit for that as easy. Finding those few pieces and having to make something out of nothing, if you still fresh that was commended.
How easy do you find it getting clothes now versus back in the day? You have a lot more resources than when you were young. How much more fun is it now being in the fashion world, having your own clothing line and shopping?
It’s a lot more fun to be able to afford the things that you want to wear and actually have a hand in designing and resenting the clothes you feel everyone else should be wearing. I enjoy it a lot; I take pride in my fly. Just finding the sh*t motherf**kas ain’t on. You know everybody can grab some Louis’s, Gucci’s, but grabbing that right pair of Lanvin and new Margielas and incorporate the upscale with the street-wear. That’s something I like to do.
Your personal style definitely influences the collection.
Yeah absolutely. I’m so laid back and classic and just old school with my sh*t, but sometimes I just say, ya’ll just go crazy. Go crazy and do what ya’ll feel like the kids gonna want to see. Of that, as we’re doing now, I’ll take the sh*t that I feel like might need to come back just a little bit. Just give ’em a little bit of that, but still incorporate, still make it wearable.
So just because you don’t wear the denim vest doesn’t mean you don’t want it out?
Exactly, because I know I gotta represent for the guy who got a swag that may not be exactly like mine, but I don’t want to alienate him. I still want him to be able to come in and find something from the collection that he f*cks with.
How much of the clothing line is on the show?
I rock that sh*t regularly, just because I wear it for real all the time. I just took it off; I just had the troublemaker sweater with the skully with the ball on the top. It’s going to be in the show a lot. You’re going to see me online with it a lot because I actually wear it. I don’t just go put it on because I’m filming. I just get dressed and they start shooting.
How was that experience, cameras following you and shooting everyday?
It’s nothing, I just live my life. They’re just a fly on the wall, I just living my life and they just happen to be there with the cameras. I don’t have to go through any extra changes.
One of our earliest times seeing you, you disciplined your kids, did an interview and ate your food at the same time. This is around the time you were going through the whole thing with Shorty Lo’. Now that you’ve been through this and you’ve advanced, matured in your life, have you found peace?
Closest thing I’ve ever seen to it, closest thing to it I’ve ever seen. If this ain’t peace, I can’t wait to get to it.
You’ve been so busy, you come out and you’ve just been working. That work ethic is inspiring.
Being busy, that doesn’t complicate your life as much as just confusion and lack of understanding within your internal personal circle. As long as the people around you know what to expect of you and understand what you expect of them. Gotta have a mutual agreement that this is how it’s going to go and this is what needs to be done. That gives you peace.
