T.I. is a shareholder in Jay Z’s TIDAL music subscription service, but he tells Ed Lover that his album won’t likely be an exclusive release on the platform.
The Bankroll Mafia don explained his current business standing with Lover, giving the reasons why he left Columbia Records after releasing just one album with them, 2015’s Paperwork.
“I think their business model suits a different demoed artist,” said T.I. “I don’t think their infrastructure is that of an urban nature. A lot of things that we need to do, outside of radio, videos…real grassroots stuff just wasn’t necessarily valued the same.”
T.I. also revealed the details of his deal with Roc Nation, saying that the company will be facilitating the distribution of his music. Speaking of which, he also spoke on the roll out for his upcoming album The Dime Trap.
The artist, who is no longer signed to a major label and has been releasing music under his original rap name Tip, announced back in February that he was the newest shareholder at TIDAL. He joined artists such as Beyonce, Kanye West and Rihanna who all at one point made their newest albums exclusively available on the platform, later releasing it to be heard on Spotify, Apple Music and other services.
However, T.I. says that he may go another route with his album.
“This is an album that’s dedicated to my core fans,” he says. “The people who went out there the first week Trap Muzik came out, so I’m basically dedicating this album to them and making the music that I know they want to hear me make. So I know those people all of them can’t necessarily afford TIDAL. So we will have some exclusive content and exclusive components. I don’t know if the entire album will be exclusive.”
T.I. did release the video for his single “Money Talk” on TIDAL earlier this year, giving subscribers first rights to view it before it appeared on VEVO. TIDAL currently costs $9.99 a month with a hi-fidelity $19.99 a month option as well.
The Dime Trap has no release date, but T.I. did share what appears to be the album cover on his Instagram page.
Photo: WENN.com
