S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper T.I. has no intention of looking back or regretting his run at Atlantic Records and, instead, is looking for another ideal situation to land in his lap sooner than later.
While Tip admits his independent grind is a lot tougher without the support of a major record company, he also credited it to bringing him back to his pre-fame grind days.
The Grand Hustle boss completed his obligation to the major with last year’s Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head and for now, he’s just enjoying the success he’s having with his current single with Lil Wayne before moving on to the next one. “It’s a lot of work, man, it’s a lot of resources to be dedicated to it,” T.I. said of being back in control of his destiny. “But at the end of the day I think it’s worth it. It put me back into mind of where we were after ‘I’m Serious,’ where we had to put our own funds and resources into [2003’s] Trap Muzik … I think that led to a beautiful situation … and I think right now we’re just working to reach another beautiful situation.” (MTV)
Back in May, Tip said he generates so much revenue outside of music that a label has no choice but to offer him a deal worth around $50 million or more.
“I am currently a free agent,” Tip revealed in an interview. “Everything’s coming out my pockets. Y’all do me all the favors you want to. [laughs] There’s nothing wrong with a helping hand. [laughs] You know what the problem is, nobody wants to pay fair market value. I done went into all the distribution houses, the Sony’s, the Universal’s and the Warner’s of the world and it’s across the board. The consensus is pretty much unanimous, they want to be in business, they just don’t want to pay to be in business. And so I’ma tell you like this — you might be able to catch you knows who’s out of you knows where but you ain’t gonna be able to get no ‘King’ on your roster, man or anything less than eight-figures. I’m just gonna tell everybody, let that be a message to you. I can nickel and dime myself to where I’m going. … You got the recording industry, publishing, you got touring, you got merch, you got film, you got television, you got fashion, you know what I’m saying? Technology. That’s eight areas of business, right now currently, that I’m generating streams of revenue from. If you feel like you want to participate in all eight of those things, it’s going to cost you about 50, 60 million [dollars]. But if you only want one or two of those things, then come to the table with 12 or 15 [million dollars], we can talk about that too.” (Streetz 94.3)
In January, Tip came clean on reports of being offered $75 million deals.
“[laughs] Hey look man I see all that sh*t man…I respect my present partners at Atlantic records and had there ever been a separation between them and myself I would respect my new partners in such a way that I’m not gonna sensationalize anything. They give me my fair market value for what it is I have to offer. And if you want to be in business with me let’s give each other %110. But just going out and doing gossip type stories that ain’t a huge part of what I do. [Would I like to stay at Atlantic Records?] Ay man, I’d love to stay where I am. It’d have to be shown that the feeling is mutual and the way you do that is on paper with commitment to dollars.” (The Urban Daily)
Earlier the same month, the “King of the South” was attached to multli-million dollar bidding war chatter.
Got $75 million handy? If so, you can sign T.I. to your label … the hip hop star just became the number-one free agent in rap — and despite the steep price tag he’s putting out … some deep pockets are already lining up. Sources close to T.I. tell TMZ … T.I.’s 10-year contract with Atlantic ran up only a month ago … but he’s already put together his own idea of a $75 million deal: – 3 albums – 10-20 percent of publishing, touring, merchandise, film and TV rights – Corporate endorsement deals – Exclusive signing of all Grand Hustle artists. (TMZ)
