Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), better known by the stage names T.I. and Tip (often stylized as TIP or T.I.P.), is an American rapper. Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris is known as one of the pioneers of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Atlanta-based rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane. Harris signed his first major-label record deal in 1999 with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace. In 2001, he released I'm Serious, his solo debut and only album with the label, as well as formed the southern hip hop group P$C. Upon being dropped from Arista, Harris signed to Atlantic and soon co-founded his own label imprint, Grand Hustle Records, which he launched in 2002.
Harris, a three time Grammy Award winner, has released 11 studio albums, with seven of them reaching the top five of the US Billboard 200 chart. During his career, Harris has also released several highly successful singles, including Billboard Hot 100 number-one hits "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" (featuring Rihanna); the latter replaced the former atop the chart and made Harris one of the few artists who replaced themselves at number one and simultaneously occupied the top two positions. Harris began to gain major recognition in 2003 following his first high-profile feature on fellow Atlanta-based rapper Bone Crusher's single "Never Scared". Harris earned more prominence with the release of Trap Muzik (2003), which included the Top 40 songs "Rubber Band Man" and "Let's Get Away" (featuring Jazze Pha). The following year, Harris appeared on Destiny's Child's international hit "Soldier" (alongside Lil Wayne), and capitalized on it with the release of his Urban Legend (2004) album. His subsequent albums, King and T.I. vs. T.I.P., generated high record sales and were supported by popular singles, such as "What You Know" and "Big Shit Poppin' (Do It)", respectively.
Harris' sixth album, Paper Trail (2008), became his most successful project, with the album being certified gold for first-week sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States, additionally making it his third consecutive number one album. In 2013, Harris was featured on Robin Thicke's single "Blurred Lines" (alongside Pharrell Williams), which peaked at number one on several major music charts. In November 2013, Harris announced that he had signed with Columbia Records after his 10-year contract with Atlantic came to an end. He released his Columbia debut Paperwork, in October 2014. In February 2016, Harris signed a distribution deal with Roc Nation and another deal with Epic Records in September 2018. The former served as a means to release his political Us or Else EP series, while the latter released his long-delayed tenth album Dime Trap in October of that year.
Harris has served two terms in county jail, twice for probation violations and a federal prison bid for a U.S. federal weapons charge. While serving 11 months in prison, he released his seventh studio album No Mercy (2010). Harris branched out into entrepreneurship with his label, Grand Hustle Records, which he co-founded in 2003 with longtime business partner Jason Geter. Prominent industry acts have been signed to T.I. through the label, including Travis Scott, B.o.B, and Iggy Azalea. Harris has also had a successful acting career, starring in the films ATL, Takers, Get Hard, Identity Thief, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man and its sequel. He is also a published author of two novels, Power & Beauty (2011) and Trouble & Triumph (2012), both of which were released to moderate success. Harris has also starred in the American reality television series T.I.'s Road to Redemption, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle, and The Grand Hustle. In 2009, Billboard ranked him as the 27th best artist of the 2000s decade.
Early life
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. was born on September 25, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Clifford "Buddy" Harris Sr. and Violeta Morgan. He was raised by his grandparents in Atlanta's Center Hill neighborhood just off Bankhead Highway and lived in Bankhead. His father resided in New York City, and he would often go there to visit. Buddy suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died from the disease.
Harris began rapping at age eight. His stage name originally came from his childhood nickname "Tip", after his paternal great-grandfather. 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.
