Here’s footage of rapper T.I. at the 2007 BET Award Nominations.
He’s responding passionately to a question about the current media buzz surrounding hip-hop.
What do you think of his response?
Brad Pitt is making some shocking revelations about love, life, and friendships in the July 2013 issue of Esquire. The 49-year-old actor delivered a major diss saying he “wasted his life” while married to Friends …
The first trailer was just released for Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s writing and directorial debut. And he appears to have chosen the pressing topic of… liking porn?
Also, it appears to be a movie about Jersey “guido” culture. …
When you think about Heidi Klum, you probably don’t think about sneakers. You might think about bikinis, lingerie, and beautiful ball gowns. But sneakers? Eh, it doesn’t really seem like her thing. At least, we …
Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner is betting on a political comeback, and has official entered the race for Mayor of New York, competing with an already crowded field of Democrats.
In a YouTube video, Weiner focuses …
Big sis Beyonce would be so proud. Solange is definitely an independent woman. The 26-year-old singer, DJ, actress, and model is adding a new title to her extensive repertoire. Solange took to Twitter to announce …
With Robert Griffin III preparing to return to the field after surgery on his right knee that many thought would keep him out until the middle of the season, some changes may be made. But …
Back in October, Taylor Swift teamed up with Keds to create a limited-edition pair of Crimson champions to coincide with her album Red. But now, the seven-time Grammy Award-winning artist has designed a full collection …
He makes some very valid points and it’s SO GOOD to see a hip-hop artist getting so passionate about real issues…I can’t believe I’m even saying that, considering what hip-hop was built on (social commentary, etc) but it’s a sign of the times…T.I. for President
man..i think this is stupid b/c most of the kids in my Urban community do not have parents to look too or anybody to take care of them… great tha TI is there for his kids but question is, will he be a father and accept his role to those kids without a father figure
I grew up with people selling crack to their mother by the time they were in high shcool and father wasn’t known… Hip Hop is all some people know…. and if this is the life he used, maybe he should actually know this
as for the curse words… BNHs.. lol…. another joke of a response
Another rapper justifing the demoralization of hip hop culture and using the “it starts at home” excuse. I agree. It does start at home but first there must be home for “it” to start. 70% of black children are born into single parent homes, the highest of any ethnic group in america. Since the father is absent children veer toward external sources for guidance and role models. 70% percent of our children born dont have a father thats a doctor, lawyer, educator, or businessman to mold themselves after. The only image of HOW THEY PERCEIVE A MAN to be is perpetuated by images, lyrics, and attitudes on television. There is something wrong with calling our women h-o-e-s. There is something wrong with advocating selling drugs within our community to survive. There is something wrong with unprotected sex and black women leading all ethnic groups in percentage of all new HIV cases. There is something wrong with the black family and the moral fabric that held us together during the days of oppression. Of course rappers aren’t going to say the problem is rap. Thats like Chevron admitting gas is too high. They want to make money. Sex and violence sells…always has. We are just as guilty for endorsing such idiocy and self degradation. We as black men and women need to step up, hustle in the classroom and the business arena. Hustle hard in instilling values of respect, determination, and rock solid work ethic in our children. Honor our queens, protect our princesses and educate our future kings. Not pass them off to a decrepit family unit and keep funnelling in negativity until it eventually clouds their reality and supresses the values of their great grandparents. No….rap is not the problem. It’s just a microcosm of the of the monster that has become the african american family unit. Rap is not the monster….but does a good job feeding it.
Ive gotta say man, Kwid Proquo, that is some deep true shit you said right there. We really gotta get real with the fact that if someone grows up w/ a hard life and gets themselves out of it by publicizing it, we as a society cannot sit back and watch while that one person makes it big, they are causing the destruction of hundreds of lives by promoting the lifestyle that they so desperately wanted to get out of
yo i agree wit tip 100% if u aint lived it u cant talk about it and it does start at home if ur son or daughter starts dressing different from the way they normally do thats where u step in and ask them where did u get it and things like that b/c if u dont they will be out there selling blow on the streets im not glorifying it and im also not putting down the lifestyle TI grew up in because I guarentee if you were placed in his position at the time he mad the decision to sell drugs everyone of yall would have done it to put 3 squares on the table . same thing goes for any other rapper that used to sell drugs : Jeezy, Jay-z Etc. because no matter the cost family is what comes first to these men and they are men for handling their business their fame is just a side product of such. Its just a product of their enviroment like ludacris said BIG did the same thing Jeezy and TI did they just trying to feed their family jeezy has a son like in the song dreamin he says his mom tells him “maybe one day youll have kids how u gon explain all that $h!t u did” Jay Z didnt have a kid but he realized his talent was rapping so he put down the drugs to make a business that was more profitable because he realized that his musical talent and him telling his story would touch more lives and increase his net worth. So , In conclusion , T.I. is to be commended for that small speech he made.
a greee!! dats hott!!!! great speech
I believe that artist these dayz will not sell records if there not saying how much coke they sold, callin black women bi#$hs, hos, and how many ni$$az they killed. Unfortunately, hip hop iz big business and the powers that control the game (corporate billionaires) profit from the promotion and exploitation of our hardships and tragady. If you look at the history of hip hop when it first started in the early 80s it was all about havin fun and skills.
In the mid 80s to the early 90s it began to be a struggle between black awareness and gansta rap. Now in the new millenium a rapper aint gettin paid unless he’s saying the things i mentioned above. For example the 50-Jah beef was nothing more than a reasurance that hip hop would continue to move in a self destructive direction. Jah actually started moving in a direction when he started to promote loving black women, but 50 sold his soul to the powers that be (corporate billionaires) for a mere fraction the billions made from the rap game. In hip hop we actually have a voice in this world but we are using our voice to destroy ourselves. I challenge any of the top rap artist to change their lyrics and prove me wrong, but we know that will never come to be!!!!!
Once again, I see folks dancing around the issues. We all know not every child grows up in a loving, embracing neighborhood or family, but that doesn’t make T.I.’s points any less valid. And here in the comments, I see people either agreeing with him or saying that his points are moot. The fact is, rap lyrics aren’t to blame for children lacking a parent, or selling drugs, or whatever. Were that the case, that people were so impressionable, we’d have seen dozens of white people chopping off their ears in imitation of Van Gohe’s artwork. At the end of the day, someone has to step up and be the parent. It’s good to see T.I. accepting his role, but I saw SoJones.com Hip Hop Fashion Site ask if T.I. would accept his role to the children without parents. That, at the end of the day, is not his job. Who should own up, are the parents who abandon their families. Don’t blame an art outlet for a societal problem. That’s just plain cowardly.
yo if feel like this if people think that us blacks are a harm to anythiing then maybe they should help us out. like lil wayne said stop be rapper racists. its ugly and i dnt condone to shit like that. we blacks slang cuz we trying to put food on the table for our kids and families. if the white man feels that we are messing up society then maybe the white man needs to start giving black people real jobs and not these little shitty jobs blacks are working. T.I. was correct. Everything does start from the home. If I saw my father in the living room making rocks and bricks hell yeah i would be doing the same thing because he is my influence my role model. Young Blacks dont have role models at home all we have are the streets. No one is going to take that from us cuz thats what we run. But to end this off IF YOU DONT LIKE TO BAD WE ARE ONE AND YOU ARE NONE.
NEVAFLYER YOU HAVE A VALID POINT BUT FOR U TO SAY THAT IT IS THE LYRICS IS BULLSH**. ONE NOONE IS OUT HERE TELLING THESE KIDS TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC AND SMOKE AND SELL. THEY ARE DOING THINGS THAT ARE HELPING THEM. THE ONLY THING US GROWN UPS CAN DO IS TALK TO OUR KIDS AND THATS NOT ALL GONNA HELP. THESE KIDS OUT HERE THESE DAYS ARE GONNA DO THEM ANY MOMENT OF ANYDAY. NO ONE CAN STOP THEM KIDS ARE OUT OF CONTROL.
See, BabyDutchess, you didn’t even read my entire post, did you? My entire point was to STOP blaming lyrics, which aren’t anything more than outlets for what one believes is art. My point was for parents, children, and everyone to take responsibility and quit scapegoating anything they don’t like. I remember my grandmother telling me that when she was little, the entire neighborhood raised the children. Now, I’m not telling you to be a parent to every single kid; No one can do that. But I am telling you to care about your own kids, at the very least. Take a daily stand in their actions and be a parent, or a big brother or sister, or whatever. Don’t just sit back and try to place blame, if you’re a grown-up like you say. How can you honestly say that smoking and selling is helping these kids? If you wanna help them, get them REAL jobs, teach them REAL value instead of not doing anything to stop what’s going on. If you can’t at least TRY to do that, you can’t be considered a respoinsible adult or person.
BabyDutchess, It’s not the white man who has to give us good jobs. It’s up to you to get an education and establish ur own from the ground up! Because in the real world aint nobody going to give you s#it. I used the same excuse when I was young but I’m older and to be a real black man or woman means handling your own. That means earning ur just due. It’s hard to be young broke and having no one to look up to. So speakin as a black man that been through those situations it seems easier to resort to the streets as an easy way out, but we often fall into the trap that set for us. Rap music (music in general) is a way of communication. If your sad you listen to music, If your high you listen to music, when your making love you listen to music. Artist these days are business men and woman. They make a lot of money to sell a product. Of course it’s our job to raise our own kids, but it’s hard to raise ur kids when there being influnced by the game. Some of these rappers aint no different from drug dealers. They both got lots of money, they drive nice cars, flashy, and they target young people to look up yo them. Yes there selling an image and doing a good job. It’s to bad that some just are to ignorant to see.
yoo i gota agrea with wut ma man smallz is sayin, like i wuz born in the ghetto of detroit, and i had 2 choices, either i stay in ma town, doin nuttin but sellin dope and gettin high or gettin out of therr in living my dream, and i decided to go wit choice 2.
but i like 1 i have to question u on iz that ye, so wut it targets young kids, but see i had enough sense not to gang bang or do nuttin, considering i wuz under the pressure cuz all my dawgs wuz doin it, but when they show those nice cars and all, and the big mansions, it gives you sumtin to look at and try to reach it in the nearer future. like all of that inspired me and now i am living it up.
i own a mansion and i have 2 cars, and i am also going to university becuase i cudent afford it back then.
my message is try, and try hard for evrytin, cuz no one is gonna make ur lyfe easier if ur gonna be gettin ahead of them.
lifes short, fulfil it.
i think t.i. is saying sum true stuff it does start at home err body got a mind of their own . It’s not hip-hops fault if u put ya mind to something your gonna do it. Thers mad kids out there who listen to hip-hop and watch hip-hop videos and still be on the honor roll and gettin A’s and B’s. People need to stop blaming hip-hop. T.i. keep doing wat you doing
some hot paris hilton spicy sex video tape
Paris Exposed – Paris Hilton Sex Tape
how to pick up on women
how to pick up women the right way
I too agree with him and i think that he has made some valid points.
However,did any one see how Tanesisha Arnold or what ever her name is looked at him towards the end of the video? What do you suppose that she was thinking during that judgemental glare?
Run – Amy Macdonald (Lyrics)…
Amy MacDonald started performing on stage acoustic first gigs when she was 15. Her influences include Travis, Pete Doherty, and The Libertines. After several performances in Asia, Macdonald showedup at festivals such as V Fest summer 2008….