 |
  |
|||
T.I. was born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. on September 25, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, raised by his grandparents. He was at one time 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. By age 14, he had been arrested several times, he was nicknamed "Tip" after his paternal great-grandfather, and was discovered and signed as a rapper as a teenager. T.I. claims to be the king of the South, and may well be on his way after winning Grammies and several other awards. However, on On October 13th, 2007, federal authorities arrested T.I. four hours before the BET Hip-Hop Awards, charged with two felonies — possession of three unregistered machine guns and two silencers, and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. On March 27, 2009, the rapper was sentenced to a year and a day in prison and fined $100,300 for federal weapons charges. He was sent to jail on May 26, 2009, and is to be released on May 27, 2010, however before he left T.I. performed a farewell concert at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, and now helps his thriving community of Atlanta through various charity activities with his rapping and motivational speaking talents, speaking to under privilaged children everywhere. |
||||
