Source: Power 105 / Power 105/Revolt
For decades only a handful of rappers have been able to successfully evolve with the times to keep themselves relevant and visible, and though T.I. has added himself to that rare company, he’s taken things further by becoming an activist at a time when we need our Hip-Hop influencers to help point the people in the right direction.
Today the King of The South took a trip to the East side of things and sat down at the cool kids table in The Breakfast Club where he spoke about politics, rappers, and culture.
Chopping it up with Charlamagne Tha God and DJ Envy (where’s Angela Yee?!), Tip explains why he won’t criticize Kanye West’s latest gospel album, who reached out to him about his Top 50 Rappers list, and who he thinks can beat Donald Trump in the 2020 Presidential election.
Here are the 5 things we learned from T.I. on The Breakfast Club.
When it came to his own Top 50 Rappers list, Tip says that Killer Mike called him about being number 50 on the list to let him know that people want him to be upset but says “what does it mean to be last place in first class?” Word. Jay also asked him whether he really believed Tupac (who T.I. put above Jay) was better than him. “I said ‘Yeah I do. When it come to impact I do.’” That being said, Tip does consider Hova to be “the greatest rapper alive,” just not dead. Also Lauren London called him about Nipsey being in the 40’s on his list and quickly explained why.
Speaking on people criticizing Kanye for “making money off of God” with his Jesus Is King album, “Every Sunday you go into a building where people are making money off of God. If you ain’t gonna criticize them you can’t criticize him. They are just as much of a sinner as he is and I just don’t believe that he can be criticized for that.” Oh, them far-right evangelicals gonna be coming for Tip for speaking facts.
When he was originally approached about being a judge on Rhythm + Flow, Tip was skeptical about the concept as other such Hip-Hop talent shows have flopped. But after explaining why he felt others didn’t work including the restraints they’re bound to on network television, the show’s producers suggested it be a Netflix show, that helped sway him to join.
Talking about calling Iggy Azalea his “blunder,” T.I. says he refers to her as that because “I felt like she was meant to be great.” But he says “when she found out that white people liked her and she didn’t really need Black people to like her anymore, she switched up and started acting different. Made moves that I wasn’t proud of that kind of placed my reputation in the line of fire.” He also feels it was a wrap for her in Hip-Hop when she “exposed” herself on Twitter and showed how weak her pen game was with her freestyles.
Though he remains a liberal democrat, Tip admits that “everyone” from the Clintons to Obama “did some bullsh*t” when they were in the Oval Office, “but none as much as this muthaf*cka in there right now… this muthaf*cka is – he is dastardly! It’s like they put Yosemite Sam in the White House!” That being said, T.I. feels that the only democrat that can beat Donald Trump at the polls is Bernie Sanders, but adds “we need a strong Vice President” and would like to see Andrew Gillum as Sander’s running mate. We still kinda wondering why Oprah decided not to run.
