Words by Corey Bloom

With the release of his fifth studio album T.I. Vs T.I.P., our exalted Sir Clifford Harris reintroduces a topic he first brought to light on his second album, Trap Muzik – that of his dual personalities. On one hand we have T.I.P, the hard headed, sock a mother fucker at an industry party and on the flip we have T.I., the cool, clam and collect one man enterprise. In the following we will take a look at the root of this split personality, musically speaking, and through this writers opinon how those personalities have evolved.

As legend goes, the division of these characters began in 2001 after signing to Arista/LaFace, when he was asked (politely, no doubt) to drop the P from the T.I., to avoid confusion with label mate Q-Tip for his debut album I’m Serious. This never made much sense to me, but then again I don’t think much like a label exec. Although the character split wasn’t explicitly presented I’m Serious did introduce T.I. as a very versatile and balanced emcee. Fitting, the first track features a introspective T.I. on “Still Ain’t Forgave Myself” where he laments, “what I am today, I made myself, but I still ain’t forgave myself.” It’s an interesting way to kick off a debut, and by the second track we begin to see the the contrast of his characters with “Dope Boyz,” which is undoubtedly the fiery T.I.P. speaking. Both of the albums singles, the Neptunes produced “I’m Serious” and “What’s Your Name” seem to capture the the best of both of these characters, with “I’m Serious” leaning more to the street minded and “What’s Your Name” touching, caressing, and pumping on the smoother side. If you needed imagery, the boots and denimed up T.I.-P. on the cover is juxtaposed by a glasses and robe clad T.I. surrounded by eight competitively eager and adoring lingerie models, one of which who is fixated on a Playstation control. Complex indeed.

Come his sophomore, Trap Muzik, T.I. addresses this dual personality with the superbly executed concept track “T.I. vs. T.I.P.,” where the two actually square off over a slumping T.I.P. beat (just another bullet point in the resume!). Parlaying into the wise man role, T.I. schools his hard-headed other half, “I wanna talk to you shawty (Why?)/Cause you be trippin’ sometimes/(Man I’m just trying stay true to what I say in my rhymes)/It ain’t a doubt in my mind, but you got a lot on the line/You need to think ’bout yo’ actions (Why?)/You be overreactin’ (Maaaan).” Going back and fourth, they find resolve at the end of the song finishing, “(I’m really glad we had a chance to sit it down and rap a tad)/(I admit you had a couple points, sometimes I act a ass)/Ay but it is so important to keep it real though just like ya said/No record deal, no amount of mil’ shall go to my head/(And with that said can’t nobody tell us shit, so fuck the hatin’)/How many niggaz real enough to stand and give theyself a straightenin’?” It’s the single most important song in understanding T.I., and most relevant examining the two personalities; their foundation, view points, desires and goals, and how the two could come together as one. I can’t think of another song where an individual challenges them self, and turns the mirror on them self (or themselves in this example) in such a personal and creatively genius way. As he indicates in the last line of the song writing it out was a self-therapy of sorts, setting guidelines for himself as his career was about to really pop-off. Mind you he was just 23.

When Urban Legend dropped T.I. officially reached superstar status on the strength of the street anthems “Bring Em Out,” “U Don’t Know Me,” “ASAP” and “Motivation.” None of the singles represented either of the characters singularly, a theme that would carry through the majority of the album, but rather revealed a merging of the two. We hear a very focused and determined T.I., smooth with his arrogance, comfortable with the flow, full of fire and with all intentions of taking over. As the homie Gotty pointed out, T.I.’s quest for royalty started before Urban Legend, but it was the album that sealed the deal with chart topping hits and platinum plaques. He didn’t change, but with his new found success he found himself in a whole different position.

King picked up right where Urban Legend left off, and just like it’s predecessor there are instances where glimpses of the two personalities present themselves, like the automatic spray of “I’m Talking To You” to the life retrospective “Live In The Sky” with Jamie Foxx, but for the most part we hear an absorbed T.I., in control and confident. Again, like Urban Legend it seems as if he has combined the energy and lyrical prowess of T.I.P. with the elder and experienced T.I. From the first couple of listens it seems to be that way with T.I. Vs T.I.P. He has grown and found a formula that works for him. By no way is it a stretch of of character, but rather an evolution of a man and an artist.

The early albums where the character divide was more evident now seems like an experimental phase as T.I. explored what worked for him as an artist. I remember hearing Trap Muzik and being blown away by the diversity of the production, concepts and general vibe, and being equally floored by the sheer magnitude and energy that radiated throughout Urban Legend. The latter worked best, and he ran with it and has still yet to slip. Without a doubt though the dual-personality is what makes T.I. so great. So often the word balance is thrown around as a cure to raps aliments, and T.I. has shown to have the ability to touch on all sides of spectrum, and do so with more style, detail and agility than the rest.

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Previous T.I. Vs T.I.P. Vs TSS Articles

The Prequel – “Since You Became A Paid Cat T.I. You Been So Laidback…”

Act I – The Boy Who Would Be King…

Act II – T.I. Vs. Everyone Else: The Guest Spots

Also @ Stray Shots From The Smoking Section @ KING-Mag.com….

T.I., The Know-It-All

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Singles – Part II

T.I.-ASAP-(CDS)-2005

T.I.-Battle_Grounds-(Promo_CDS)-2005

T.I.-Be_Easy_(Promo_CDS)-2003

T.I.-Bring_Em_Out-(Promo_CDS)-2004

T.I.-Bring_Em_Out_B-W_You_Dont_Know_Me-2004

T.I.-Bring_Em_Out-CDS-2004

T.I.-Doin_My_Job_(Produced_By_Kanye_West)_-2004

T.I.-Front_Back_(Prod_by_Mannie_Fresh)-(Promo_CDS)-2006

T.I.-Get_Loose_BW_ASAP-2005

T.I.-Lets_Get_Away_(CDS)-2004

T.I.-Lets_Get_Away_Bw_Rubber_Band_Man_(Remix)-2004

T.I.-Look_What_I_Got_(Promo_CDS)-2003

T.I.P.-Big_Things_Poppin_(Do_It)-Promo-2007

T.I.P.-You_Know_What_It_Is-(Promo_CDS)-2007

T.I.-Ride_With_Me-Promo-2005

T.I.-Top_Back_(Remix)-Promo_CDS-2006

T.I.-Top_Back-Promo_CDS-2006

T.I.-What_You_Know-CDS-2006

T.I.-What_You_Know-VLS-2006

T.I.-Why_You_Wanna-CDS-2006

T.I.-You_Dont_Know_Me-(Full_CDS)-2004

T_I__Feat__Bang_City-What_You_Know_(Remix)-Promo_CDS-2006

The_Game-One_Blood_(Hip_Hop_Remix)-Promo_CDS-2006

The_Game-One_Blood_(Regional_Remixes)-Promo_CDS-2006

The_Notorious_B.I.G.-Spit_Your_Game_BW_Breaking_Old_Habits-(Promo_CDS)-2005

Ti_and_Beenie_Man-Im_Serious_(Remix)-(Promo-CDS)-2003

TI_ft_Daz-My_Life-Promo_CDS-2004

TI-U_Dont_Know_Me-(Promo_CDS)-2005

Trey_Songz_Ft._T.I.-You_Can_Get_it-(Promo-CDS)-2004

VA-Nina_Shaw_ft_Fabolous-My_Way_bw_TI_ft_Notorious_BIG_Brooklyn-Talk_What_You_Know-2006

Young_Buck_F._T.I._Young_Jeezy_And_Pimp_C-4_Kings-CDS-2006

Young_Buck_Ft._T.I._Ludacris-Stomp_Remix-2004

Young_Dro_Feat_T.I.-Shoulder_Lean-(Promo_CDM)-2006

Young_Dro_Feat_TI-My_Girl-Promo-CDM-2006

Young_Dro_Ft_TI-Shoulder_Lean_Bw_Gangsta-Promo_CDM-2006

Young_Dro–Man_In_The_Trunk-2006

Young_Dro-Rubber_Band_Banks-Promo_CDS-2005

Young_Dro-Rubberband_Banks-Promo_CDS-2006

Singles – Part II