S. Samuel
Grammy-winning rapper T.I.'s platinum-selling albums may be enough to keep him satisfied as the "King of the South," but he's revealed some disdain about maintaining a hip-hop career.
According to Tip, the only reasons he maintains a rap career nowadays are his contractual obligations and an overall love for the music.
“This is what everyone fails to realize. I want out. I want out, man. What the game is going to and what has evolved into from a personality standpoint, it goes against what I represent. What I embody, this game contradicts that. So I want out. I’m in it because I love music and I have obligations contractually.” (“The Breakfast Club”)
Back in June 2010, the Atlantic Records rap star forecasted his run in hip-hop.
“I’m not going to be the 40-year-old rapper. I would not,” Tip told CNN in a recent interview. “That’s Jay. He’s doing it very well. Hats off, but I just don’t see that for me.” Tip, who will release his new album King Uncaged on August 17, prefers to take the path of another super-successful rapper. “If I had the option to [be] Jay-Z [or] Will Smith, I think I’d go with Will,” he revealed. “I’m a Jay-Z fan. I have a lot of admiration and respect for Jay and his legacy. But I feel like Will, he gets to spend more time with his family. He gets to be home more and actually raise his kids. I feel like he has more of a home life…and the money don’t hurt. Twenty million dollars a flick ain’t bad.” (Rap-Up)
A year prior, Lil Wayne said he did not envision himself rapping beyond his mid-30’s.
“I always said I ain’t wanna do this no more after 35, I ain’t wanna do it no more,” Wayne revealed in an interview withradio personality Tim Westwood. “So any time before 30 and 35, I might give it up. [But now] I gotta work as hard as I can so I ain’t gotta look back. [When I retire, I’ll] do something else, I’m gonna retire from this and probably jump into some ownership of some sports team or you know, I’m very heavy into sports. Any sport. [I’d want ownership] of the team. It doesn’t matter, it could be basketball, it could be baseball, of course it wouldn’t be baseball, there’s too much money to own that, but it could be basketball or football, it wouldn’t matter. I could buy into a baseball team with someone.” (“Tim Westwood TV”)
This week, Young Money’s Drake also said he planned to have a short rap career.
“I personally think that when I find that person and when it is established we are going to enter a serious relationship–I mean I don’t even know if I’ll still be making rap music. I don’t know how long I necessarily want to make rap music for. You know, there are artists who are 35 and up that still make rap and that still works for them. I don’t know if I want to be that guy. A lot of my music is about being young and figuring it all out. I don’t know if I can still make my brand of music when I am up there. Maybe I’ll be just acting or whatever it is. I plan to make as much music as I can until a story from Drake doesn’t impact you as it used to.” (i-D Magazine)
Check out T.I.’s interview below:
