The Atlanta trap pioneer who topped the Hot 100 three times

Born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. on September 25, 1980, T.I. was raised in Atlanta, Georgia, and is credited as a pioneer of trap music alongside fellow Georgia rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane. In the late 1990s he met the music executive Kawan “KP” Prather and joined his company Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. His debut album, I'm Serious (2001), met a lukewarm response, and he parted ways with the label.

The setback did not last. He signed with Atlantic Records, co-founded his own imprint Grand Hustle Records in 2003, and got his first Billboard Hot 100 entry as a guest on Bone Crusher's “Never Scared”. His second album, Trap Muzik (2003), peaked at number four on the Billboard 200. Urban Legend followed in 2004, and his next three albums each debuted at the top of the Billboard 200, led by singles such as “What You Know” and “Big Shit Poppin' (Do It)”.

Paper Trail (2008) was his biggest commercial success and produced two Hot 100 number ones, “Whatever You Like” and “Live Your Life” with Rihanna. The second replaced the first at the top, making him the first rapper to do that while holding the top two positions. After an eleven-month incarceration, No Mercy (2010) saw a decline, but he returned in 2013 as a guest alongside Pharrell Williams on Robin Thicke's “Blurred Lines”, which topped the Hot 100 and did so in 22 other countries.

Later came Columbia Records, the album Paperwork, the short-lived collective Bankroll Mafia with Young Thug, a deal with Roc Nation, then Epic Records, and in 2020 his first independent album, The L.I.B.R.A. A three-time Grammy winner with 19 nominations, he has also built an acting career with roles in ATL, Takers and the Marvel films Ant-Man and its sequel, and he has written two novels. His twelfth and final album, Kill the King, was released in 2026.