Clifford Harris Jr.

Clifford Harris Jr.

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 his debut album I'm Serious, which was met with lukewarm commercial reception. This would be his only project with the label before signing with Atlantic Records, where he would soon become the co-founder of his own label imprint, Grand Hustle Records in 2003.Harris first gained national recognition following his high-profile feature on fellow Atlanta-based rapper Bone Crusher's 2003 single "Never Scared". Harris earned further critical and commercial success with the release of his second album 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 alongside Lil Wayne on Destiny's Child's hit single "Soldier", and capitalized on this with the release of his third album, Urban Legend (2004). Harris would then have his next three studio albums peak the Billboard 200 chart—beginning with King (2006) and T.I. vs. T.I.P. (2007)—while garnering wider chart success from their lead singles, "What You Know" and "Big Shit Poppin' (Do It)" respectively. Harris' sixth album, Paper Trail (2008) ultimately became his most successful record to date, as it received gold certification for first-week sales of over 500,000 copies in the United States. It included two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" (featuring Rihanna); the latter replaced the former atop the chart and made Harris the first rapper to do so while occupying the top two positions. Following an eleven-month incarceration, he would release his seventh and eighth studio albums No Mercy (2010) and Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head (2012) to generally mixed reviews and a commercial decline. In 2013, Harris was featured alongside Pharrell Williams on Robin Thicke's single "Blurred Lines", which peaked at number one on the Hot 100 and several other countries. The next year, his recording contract with Atlantic would expire and he'd release his ninth studio album with Columbia Records: Paperwork (2014), which was met with improved critical and commercial reception, reaching number two on the Billboard 200. In February 2016, Harris signed a record deal with Roc Nation and another deal with Epic Records in September 2018. The former served as a means to release his political series of extended plays titled Us or Else, while the latter released his long-delayed tenth album Dime Trap in October of that year. His first independent album, The L.I.B.R.A., was released in 2020. Harris, a three Grammy Award winner, is often described as a leading figure in hip hop music during the 2000s, particularly Southern hip hop. He's received nineteen nominations for the award, as well as twelve Billboard Music Awards, three BET Awards, and two American Music Awards. Prominent industry artists have signed to T.I. through his Grand Hustle Records label since its creation, 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). 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.

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