Cadillac

It’s been over four years since we first interviewed Clifford Joseph Harris, jr  for DUB Magazine. Whirlwind success, a Grammy, cinematic success, three albums, a Chevy endorsement and ultimately, sad legal woes have followed Tip, who turns 29 this month. While he’s taking a moment away from the spotlight fullfilling his one-year prison sentence  for a weapons-related felony offense, we await his return and 2010 album, and look back at the history of an authentic star whose rhymes originate from a genuine place and real life experience.

By Tamara Warren

via: DUB Magazine, July 2005

“Man, somebody gonna trip,” he said in a familiar, deep baritone drawl. His voice is almost surprising, coming from a man with a wiry frame, striking features and a square jaw, who at a quick glance appears young and spry. The authoritative voice and staunch gaze tell a different story of an old soul, wise beyond his 24 years. It is the voice of a man who has rolled around the block a few times—in his own words—a real OG.

T.I.’s booming cadence is easily identifiable to anyone who pays attention to Billboard playlists or to the sounds of the streets. His powerful delivery has solidified his firm hold on superstardom with tales from his third album, Urban Legend (Atlantic, 2004), bumping from car speakers across America.

Turning to look at the uneven steps on the bus, he watched as members of Pimp Squad Click (P$C) exited onto the midtown New York City sidewalk. Called Tip by his cohorts, T.I. watched in silence, seeming ready to step in if someone tumbled. T.I.’s Grand Hustle label artists landed the drop squarely, and, like a squadron, gathered to make their next move—studio bound.

T.I. pays attention to details—from the phrasing of questions about his native Atlanta to the specs on one of his Chevys. Make a wrong inference about one of his cars, and he is quick to correct. “I got a ’96 Impala. It’s got an LT1. They didn’t have that engine in the ’94 and ’95, but I got a ’96,” he explained. “The LT1 is a Corvette engine.”

Explaining his tastes, his lifestyle and his history is a part of every day life for T.I., who is currently on tour with Nelly and Fat Joe. He keeps busy with the normal flow of photo shoots with P$C, decisions to be made about matters like clothing logos, and a rigorous interview schedule. Despite the hectic pace, his actions are measured, calculated and meticulous—the kind of qualities characteristic of both a master craftsman and the kind of guy you might run into while perusing his next purchase at a car show.

For T.I., these passions are often one and the same. He does not mind talking about his cars—old and new, foreign and domestic, or posing with cars, whether they come from his modest fleet, from his Atlanta shop, or from one of his regular stops on a promo tour.

DUB caught up with him as he breezed through L.A.’s NEXT Motorsports to peep an exotic Ferrari 575 Maranello sparkling with HRE 840R rims wrapped in Pirelli tires and a BMW 745i decked out in a full AC Schnitzer body kit and NC Forged Xtreme 10 rims.

The car a man owns speaks for the man, and T.I. mixes and matches old, sturdy American classics with silky smooth innovations, resulting in a fleet that kicks a potent concoction.

He uses his lyrical craft—as one of the most respected MCs in the new-school Southern game—to talk about what goes down in hood-bound cars, showing his talent for telling stories.

So if your rearview shaking and your seats vibrating /24 inch Daytons got the Chevrolet shaking. (24’s)

T.I. has come a long way. From the streets of Atlanta to assuming his title as rap royalty, he flips consonants and flows over lines that depict the raw lifestyle he experienced—making the wrong kind of record, stigmatized with the felon tag.

Nonetheless, his albums have always told tales about cars in the hood. On his first album, I’m Serious (Arista, 2001), he cut his first enthusiast track “Heavy Chevys.” Moreover, T.I.’s catalog contains enough Chevy references over the course of three albums to put a half-ass car club to shame. “Me and Trick did a song we never used about Chevy Impalas,” he said.

You gonna make me bring a Chevy to a real slow creep/My partner’s hangin’ out the window/Mouth fulla gold teeth. (U Don’t Know Me)

T.I.’s floss is not for show. “That’s what we do in the South,” he said. Growing up around folks who loved cars, his uncles were into Chevys—the chariot of choice for the self-proclaimed King of the South—while his father was a Cadillac man.

“I’ve been riding in Cadillacs for a long time. The first time I was ever in one was my dad’s 1985 El Dorado Biarritz. He used to take me to Harlem—up to Harlem, yeah boy—to his candy store, to run numbers,” he recalled. “That’s the first Cadillac I rode in. I still have it.”

T.I. can sometimes be found parked, sitting in the gold car’s luxurious seats, stealing a quiet moment.

A precocious youth, T.I. taught himself to drive when he was about 11, taking his grandmother’s or mother’s cars. He finally got his own when he was about 14—a 1985 Cutlass Supreme. “I’d ride round the apartments,” he said. Mid-90s Hip-Hop weighed heavy on his playlist. “Back then it was Too Short’s Get in Where You Fit In, Snoop Dogg’s Doggy Style, Outkast’s ATLiens and Underground Kings (UGK). I had six-by-nines bangin’ those cuts,” he recalled.

However, T.I.’s teenage years were defined by trouble, as he fell deep into the street life around him. But, ultimately, the rap game proved more formidable than the dope game.

By the turn of the millennium, he was touring, and a record deal with Arista gave him the means to shop for a fly new car. However, it was his second album, Trap Muzik (Atlantic, 2003) that opened up the playing field.

“When I had enough money to buy anything I wanted, I bought the 2001 Escalade EXT and then the CL,” he said.

These days, T.I. is a car connoisseur. His fast and furious favorite is the Mercedes-Benz SL 55, and on warm Atlanta days, the top is squarely dropped. However, on average, T.I. does not drive much. He has a driver for his new Rolls Royce Phantom and is contemplating adding a Maybach to the mix.

Still, he maintains a taste for Detroit muscle bound beasts. A 1970 Chevrolet Sport Chevelle, a 1972 Monte Carlo and a 1970 Chevelle Convertible find themselves in his fleet alongside a 2003 Hummer, a 2003 Yukon Denali, a 2004 Range Rover, a 1988 Monte Carlo, and the aforementioned ‘96 Impala.

“You get old cars from people’s yards when they don’t want them anymore,” he said. “Every now and then you catch a good deal.” But T.I. is selective when picking up an old car. “Make sure the frame ain’t bent, and that it has no rust,” he said. “Certain things, you just know, are very hard to find. I learned a lot from my uncles.”

While T.I. favors rims, counting GFGs as his favorite of the moment, his schedule does not allow for anything other than picking out his next ride or choice of wheel. But T.I.’s cars are in trusted hands. He is part owner of Atlanta Auto Concierge Elite, employing a half dozen people. “I bought my own shop,” he said. “We get ’em, sell ’em to you, fix ’em up for you; whatever you need.”

When it comes to car talk, T.I. likes to get technical about his. “The most efficient thing I’ve ever seen is probably the ’67 Corvette convertible. Puff got that. Me and him rode in that in Miami,” T.I. said, reminiscing, a slow easy coming over his face. “That’s what Elvis used to ride in.”

While anybody can appreciate a car of that caliber, T.I. recognizes the mystique that transcends the machine and has nothing but respect to a chariot truly fit for a king.

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