S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper T.I. looks at his career and why moving into a more executive position could be next in the new issue of XXL Magazine.
Based on an excerpt from his feature, Tip says he would like an opportunity to find and sign major talent.
“I wouldn’t mind going somewhere and taking a president position and signing acts and taking the attention off of me and taking what I’ve learned in my career and applying that to another person’s. Because I ain’t going to face the same adversities I’ve faced again. I’m not going to have another friend die in my arms. I’m not getting caught with no more guns and silencers. All these things I’ve gone through, I have these lessons and the only way to use these lessons is to give it to someone else and keep them from having to go through that. Right now though, I’m still the earner of this roster, so as of right now that’s what it’s gonna be. I got an album right now ready to go: Trouble Man: He Who Wears The Crown.” (XXL Magazine)
He also recalls sitting back and watching mega music empires like Young Money and Maybach Music Group flourish.
“I’m just so happy these guys are getting their shot. They stood by me and waited. They were loyal. For the longest time, we sat back and watched Young Money. We watched [Maybach Music Group]. We watched this one and that one, and I knew we had the same amount of talent, if not more. I was dealing with cases at the time, so when they would come to me, I just had to tell them the time would come. So I’m so happy to give these guys an opportunity to showcase their talents now.” (XXL Magazine)
Earlier this month, Tip spoke on being a free agent and not having a major label backing him.
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)
