T.I. Talks To MTV About Coming Clothing Line

Article written by: Rodrick Rainey
Posted on: February 2, 2005

A “TRL” Breakout Star of 2005, CEO of Grand Hustle Records and king of the South T.I.’s been called all of those things.

But Tuesday in Atlanta, he was happiest to hear his favorite title: “Daddy.” Tip was enjoying a rare day off from

the road, where he’s been pumping up his latest LP, Urban Legend.

“They starting to know, they starting to recognize what I do,” he said about his daughter’s elementary school classmates. He also said that balancing family life and his profession is “difficult, but it must be done” (see “T.I.’s Rubber-Band-Man Guide To Keeping The Bounce In Your Hip-Hop Career”).

That balancing act is about to get tougher, because Tip is adding “entrepreneur” to his list of titles: He’s in the process of coming out with official clothing and sneaker lines. Currently a spokesperson for the S. Carter sneaker line, the ATL native is in negotiations to come out with his own sneaker through Jay-Z’s shoe label.

“We just have to finalize the deal, get all the particulars taken care of, but it’s definitely in the works,” the Rubber Band Man explained. “The sh–’s gotta be fly.”

T.I. said the shoe is still in the design phase, but he has a strong idea of what he wants.

“I like a mixture of things,” he said. “I like a classy, basic tennis shoe like the S. Carter, Air Force One or classic Reebok. I also like the new-age or new-school sneakers like the Michael Vicks or Air Max or [Air] Huaraches. We gotta find a cross between them two [genres].”

Any dude with hot footwear knows he has to have the gear to match, and the MC hopes to have his clothing line, the Crown Collection, come to fruition by the fall.

“It’s still in the works right now,” Tip said. “We got a lot of opportunities. People seen me in different award shows and magazine spreads. I guess they trying to capitalize off the opportunities to make money off of other people that might want to dress similar to me or emulate me. We gonna move everything: T-shirts, thermals, polo shirts, rugbys, leathers, jeans, sunglasses, watches, long-john shirts, hoodies, jogging suits everything, man.

“I try to cover a lot of ground,” he continued, regarding his approach to dressing. “I ain’t never been the kind of guy to stay confined to one style or limited to one look. I can kick it in the trap with a long-john shirt, hoodies and some sneakers and Timberlands. Or I can get fly and put on some Salvatore Ferragamo or a Louis Vuitton or a Dolce & Gabbana suit. Whatever the occasion calls for, I can dress accordingly.”

Clothes and shoes are cool, but what T.I. really needs to do is get himself a hat deal. Nobody in hip-hop rocks a fitted cap the way T.I. wears his brims.

“It’s something we been doing, me and the whole clique,” he said about the way his hats tilt to the side of his head with a mean lean. “The first cat I remember seeing rock with it [like that] is one of my OG partners an OG who damn near raised me, one of my mama’s ex-boyfriends. His name was Slim. He was a hustler, he was about 40 or 50 at the time. He had a jheri curl too. He used to just throw a Starter cap on top of the ‘fro and let it lean to the side. I started rocking mine like that. That was a long time ago, I must have been like 8 or 9 years old.”

However, T.I. will be reveling in being a grown-up in his next video, “Get Loose,” with his potna, Nelly. The two have been talking about going on tour together later this year as well.

“It’ll probably be a part two to the ‘Tip Drill’ video,” T.I. laughed about the concept. “Ain’t no telling what we might do or how it’s gonna get done. I just know that it’s gonna be a real big deal.”

“Get Loose” isn’t the only clip coming up for the Atlanta fire-starter. He’s also going to shoot a full-length video for “U Don’t Know Me,” because the streets have told him that the short tease of the song at the end of “Bring Em Out” wasn’t enough.

“We gonna do that just for the ‘hood,” Tip said. “I think ‘U Don’t Know Me’ is gonna be real grimy and to the point. We not gonna force it to be something it’s not. We gonna make it representative to the people we making it for.”

T.I.’s crew, the Pimp Squad Clique, are also working on a new group album that their captain says will be for the pavement, as will a still-untitled movie they’re putting together.

“It’s going to be similar to ‘Streets Is Watching,’ ” Tip said, comparing his movie to Jay-Z’s 1998 straight-to-video effort. “Basically, it’s about how the people in the movie got where they are now. You incorporate songs and videos along the way.”

“Still Ain’t Forgave Myself,” “What’s Yo Name,” “Heavy Chevys,” “I Still Luv You,” “Look What I Got” and “What Happened?” are songs he’s thinking about shooting videos for to be included in the movie. Between five and eight videos will be used.

So what does it mean for an artist that has built his career by being entrenched in the streets to be embraced as a pop darling on “TRL”?

“Once again, it’s an extreme pleasure for me to be presented with such an opportunity,” he said. “It feels like hard work is paying off. It’s real rewarding.”