Superstar rapper and actor T.I. is back on the scene. He has a new movie, Takers, opening Aug. 27, and a new CD, King Uncaged, set for release in September. He also recently married his long time companion, Tiny, in Miami. He operates his business ventures and career moves from his comfortable tri-level Atlanta mansion, where he recently gave an exclusive interview to JET.
Here are some tidbits from the wide-ranging interview.
The books he read while in prison:
The bestseller “Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking” by Malcolm Gladwell. "It's about how recognizing small things make a big impact in your life,” T.I. says. "I also read in its entirety “The Coldest Winter Ever” and “Midnight” (both by Sister Souljah). “I read those in two days a piece. Those are the only novels I read, everything else I read for information." Another book that captivated him was “Superman To Man,” (by J. A. Rogers), which deals with whites feeling they were superior to blacks. "A white man got on the train feeling like Superman and he got off that train feeling like just a man."
What he’s reading now:
Since he's been home, he's been reading the dictionary, searching for proper spellings of words. “I just try to keep my vocabulary sharp,” he says.
What he’s teaching his six children:
A doting dad, he says he is teaching his children, who range in age from 2 to 14 to "be passionate about the things that move you and follow that passion. I am trying to teach them with great reward comes great responsibility. The more you have the more you are required, obligated to do. With no struggle, there is no progress. That's what I am trying to teach them."
On making the movie “Takers” with Chris Brown:
He’s proud of “Takers,” which opens Aug. 27, and says moviegoers are going to be amazed by Chris Brown’s performance. “He did as many stunts as we let him do,” T.I. says with a laugh. “Anything he didn’t do was because of the liability of the studio they had to say, ‘Hold up, Chris. We can’t let you do that.’ He did more than people believed he did.”
To read Clarence Waldron's complete story on T.I.,
pick up a copy of JET magazine, on newsstands Aug. 9
On his acting career:
T.I. says he would love to do more acting, even comedy. “I am open to doing comedy, drama, romance, action. As long as it is a story that I can relate to in someway and I believe it needs to be told and definitely along some actors and actresses whose craft I can respect.”
On family and faith:
T.I. thanks his mother and grandparents for introducing him to church at a young age. That background and his faith in God helped him make it through these last few years and enable him to climb back on top. “Not just in the last few years,” he says of God’s role in restoring his life. “You cannot make it through the things I made it through, you can’t be brought through the lowest of lows and brought to the highest of highs without a clear view and understanding of the part that God has played on your life and that He has ordained for you to play in the world today.”
On having his first JET cover:
“I just appreciate the opportunity to work with you guys...I hope this is the first of many.”