T.I. recently linked up with DJ Buck and Regg from Hot 937 to talk about his philosophy on balancing celebrity status with his family life, his serious pursuit of stand-up comedy, his recent return to music, and much more.
LISTEN NOW: T.I. with DJ Buck and Regg
"The people around me, they just see the man that they need,” Tip says of his family, versus his superstar status. “I wanna be a son to my mama, a husband to my wife, my daughter's first love, and my son’s first hero. That's it.”
“I'm celebrated in what I do for a living by the grace of God, and it's a blessing to be able to do what I love for a living, but I don't know, the superstar thing is kind of, that's something that other people put on it. I don't feel it as much."
T.I. also dug into his comedy beginnings, and why it has been important for him to pursue stand-up. He insists he didn't take shortcuts due to his fame, noting that people who assume he did are "projecting their fears and failures" onto him. He explains the primary motivation for pursuing comedy was therapeutic. “I just wanted to get on stage because I fell in love with the craft. It was crazy. It just felt therapeutic to me. It felt like I was able to actually talk through a lot of the things that would make the headlines, and I felt like I was helpless and didn't have a voice, and I couldn't really say nothing."
The main thing is still the main thing though, as T.I. recently returned to the top of the charts with “LET ‘EM KNOW,” and found himself once again in the crosshairs for some rap conflict.
"I don't know, man, to be honest with you, my life is too full, man,” he says of wanting to stay out of the beef. “My life is just too full. I ain't got time. I don't have time, with all the stuff I got, like I just told you, I got grandchildren, man."
"I think that when it's about me and people saying something about me, I can overlook that, you know what I mean? But that ain't nothing I'm concerned about cause I have a strong sense of self. I knew who I was before T.I. The women and children of my family, the people that I've been sworn to protect? I can't go for that."
Check out the full conversation with T.I. above.
