When Kid Capri speaks, the initial Hip-Hop excitement is still in his voice. Mostly though, The Bronx native is known for speaking with his hands as a legendary DJ and a producer for everyone from Heavy D to Styles P. Currently getting his own label, No Kid’N, up and running, Kid is slated to release a new mixtape with Budda Early entitled The Treatment on September 16th as well as a solo album called The Whole World’s Behind David Love later in the fall. In the meantime, the World’s Greatest D.J. is touring with Rakim and working on a biographical film called The Craziest Kid. As someone who goes back to zodiac signs and sweatshirts but never lost a step, Kid is one of Hip-Hop’s greatest ambassadors. Take notes. AllHipHop.com: Sorry to start on a down note but Bernie Mac recently passed away. Having worked with him on Def Comedy Jam, did you get to know him at all and is there anything you can share about him?Kid Capri: Bernie Mac came from Def Comedy Jam and the first time he came out he did good but he became the icon the second time when me and him was doing a routine called “Kick It” that we made up right on the spot. We didn’t rehearse it or anything and it became real legendary for him. When we took Def Comedy Jam on the road with that routine, people was lovin’ it so much. We would perform and it got so crazy that we was just doing different routines and spontaneous things and it would just get more hot. People liked that that it was just ‘all of a sudden.’ We used to be on the tour bus and Bernie would put his stocking cap on and grab a Heinekin and be funnier off stage than he’d be on stage. He’d be on the bus all night just telling jokes. We’d be on the floor, balled up and couldn’t take no more. By the time we go to sleep he was telling jokes to the bus driver. He was one of those dudes. He was like an uncle.  Real humble and we would tear the stage down every night it didn’t matter where it was, or if different comedians before us wasn’t good or made the crowd feel a certain way, he would come in and make things right, fix it and leave it better than before he got there.AllHipHop.com: You have a new label and mixtape coming out, but to take it back to the past and essence of Kid Capri, you obviously love music to death and have dedicated your life to it. Was there a particular record or a moment or something like that when you knew this was what you wanted to do?Kid Capri: Actually, my father when I was younger, watching him on stage performing, he was a singer and my grandfather played trumpet for Dizzy Gillespie and Count Basie and Miles Davis and them dudes. My father was singing he had a couple of hit records out in the 70s and seeing him on stage growing up and watching him that right there let me know that I wanted to be on stage. I was always around music, the DJing thing wasn’t out yet but I knew that I would do something in it. I didn’t know what I was gonna be big in but that’s what I wanted to do.Then when the DJing thing came out, I was on my block and this kid, my man Joe, he was throwin’ some dice on the wall and he was like “Yes yes y’all to the beat y’all freak freak y’all,” and I’m looking at him like, What the hell is he saying, what the hell is he talking about? That week they had a party in the community center with these kids called Rockwell Inc.-DJ B Ward, MC Cool C, Smooth B, Crazy B, they used to have parties at Marble Hill Community center for a dollar, two dollars. I was down there watching B Ward deejay and I ain’t never seen that. I didn’t go to the bathroom, I didn’t talk to no kids, I didn’t dance, I just watched this kid playing. This one time he was cutting this record called “Conga” [Lafayette Afro Rock Band] and he was cutting it so crazy I ran home and told my moms this is what I wanna do, I wanna be a DJ and she said a DJ, what’s that? I said I want a turntable, I want this I want that, moms didn’t have a lot of money so she bought me a mixer that had no headphones. That’s how I got nice cuz I had to guess those spots on the records. So the older dudes that was around at the time, deejays on my block, they were like How is this eight-year-old kid bustin’ they ass? It’s because I didn’t have headphones. My name was DJ Doctor Spank [laughs].I started talking to this girl in the neighborhood named Barbara Carter; me and her was in the same class we started goin’ together for a little while and we was walking into the classroom and she said Kid Capri sounds like a good name for a DJ you should try it. I tried it put the name on the sweatshirt and next thing you know I was Kid Capri. Two months later she was shot, a stray bullet killed her so that’s why I kept the name. But to answer your question, when I heard B Ward cut that “Conga” record that’s when I knew what I wanted to do. My first single on my first album [The Tape] was “The Apollo” and that’s on the other side of that “Conga” record, it’s on the same album. Public Enemy used those horns and later there was “Rumpshaker” and “Show Me What You Got” with Jay-Z. I was the first that used Debarge [hums “One More Chance”] before Biggie on the first album. I had a lot of beats that were in the future before dudes was really getting at it. Kid Capri “Apollo”AllHipHop.com: As far as studio work, where do production and deejaying overlap?Kid Capri: The best producers are the ones who are the DJs because they’re out there playing records for people to dance to. You have dudes like Premier, Pete Rock, new dudes like Polow Da Don, dudes like Jermaine Dupri he was a DJ before he was a producer. Cats like them that know those beats that know those records to keep. The best producers that I’ve known in Hip-Hop have been DJs first. Now every producer can’t be a DJ, every DJ can’t be producer, everyone has a job to do. But Swizz, Scratch, they were DJs before they became producers. AllHipHop.com: As far as emceeing goes and having seen so many eras, what are your standards for an MC? Kid Capri: A dope MC is when you can get on a record and be hot and then not be selfish to the point that you don’t know how to make a song. Even more of a dope emcee is when he can get on stage and not only have to worry about his single but he can get on stage and make you believe in him where you don’t even care about his record cuz he was so dope. Perfect example is the Fugees’ first album. In my opinion the first Fugees album was trash, it ain’t like it’s a secret it ain’t disrespect, it wasn’t a good album. But when you see them on stage you didn’t see them performing those records because they knew it wasn’t a good album it wasn’t selling but they would use other music and their show would be so incredible that you had to respect them. Next thing you know their next album sold 17 million or some crazy number. A lot of dudes don’t realize that you make that single but when you get on stage people are coming to see what you’re gonna do. If you have a hot record that’s great if you have a list of hot records even better. But after that you wanna make sure that this show is something people are gonna believe in, that people wanna pay for a ticket to see you again and a promoter will take a chance on you coming back. Understand that you’re not doing anyone a favor everyone’s doing you one. AllHipHop.com: Do you think the art of the live performance is something that’s been lost?Kid Capri: I don’t think it’s a lost art but dudes are not puttin’ in the work that they’re supposed to be puttin’ in. You could get a list of dudes that have a hit record and put ‘em on stage and they do their record and do a buncha other s**t that nobody else knows and it’s really not that interesting. If it is then that’s beautiful but that’s what being a showman is about it’s knowing how to manipulate that stage so people will believe in what you’re doing. You can put that person up against dudes that have a whole category of hot records like the dudes that I’m out with now on Rock the Bells—Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, De La Soul, Mos Def—who can bang you on the head with 13 or 14 records and its hard to come after that. That’s when it’s not about being someone who’s just a studio MC. You have to take that studio record to the world on that stage. They gonna come to see how you execute that record on stage and if that show ain’t popping word’s gonna spread and next thing you know you ain’t booked.Go Crazy f/ Kid Capri – Kid Capri & Budda Early

 “People were walking up saying, Who are you, why should I buy a tape for

twenty dollars? I told them take my tape put it in your car and listen

to the intro, I guarantee you’re gonna come back and buy the rest of

the joints… Next thing you know every car that’s goin’ by, from the police cars to

regular people, every car had a Kid Capri tape. That’s how I got hot to where I got my first

album deal.”

AllHipHop.com: Your upcoming release, The Treatment, is billed as a mixtape. Everything in the game now is mixtape this and mixtape that. What is the true history of the mixtape and what was Kid Capri’s hand in that?Kid Capri: First off before we go there I don’t like calling this joint a mixtape that’s not really what it is. A mixtape is not taking a bunch of records and putting it out there on a joint. We call it that, but it’s not. A mixtape is when you’re deejaying and doing it all at one time playing records, there aint no computer involved there aint no stopping the record pausing it; that’s what I always knew a mixtape to be. But I guess this coincided with the ones we have out now so we calling it a mixtape. But really it was dudes doing an album and some of it may be other people’s music they’re still put together as though it was their album. What it does it gives you a chance to be heard the same way I used to do it.My contribution was that before me you had Starchild, Hollywood, Brucie B, Lovebug Starski, when I came in I started playing with Starchild, me and him was making tapes together and they did good. People would come to the S & S Club a lot of younger dudes and old timers in-crowd people they would come get ‘em so we was out. I did that for a year I was with Starchild for a year at S & S and the Zodiac Club. After that, Red Alert got me a job at Studio 54 I started playing there and it became pandemonium, it got so crazy I had to stop it. People were getting hurt, a lot of fights breaking out, a lot of folks was getting rushed it was overcapacitated I had to stop it. Between that I was doing little parties here and there in Virginia and I’d come back and do my New York thing, the Castle, Powerhouse, all that. But I said what am I gonna do now? I bought me a hundred tapes and sat in my crib and I made five or six different mixes that I had and I sat down on the street corner and I sold them tapes for twenty dollars. People were walking up saying, Who are you, why should I buy a tape for twenty dollars? I told them take my tape put it in your car and listen to the intro, I guarantee you’re gonna come back and buy the rest of the joints. They’ll take it, put it in their car, hear the intro come back and buy everything. It got so crazy that they’d come back, buy a tape that cost twenty dollars and then give me a hundred dollar tip. Next thing you know every car that’s goin’ by, from the police cars to regular people, every car had a Kid Capri tape and they’d be shouting it all over the street. That’s how I got hot to where I got my first album deal. That right there opened the door for other DJs to come in. After me came Ron G, Triple C, Doo Wop, they developed the same type of style the way I would talk on the tape, the things I would say on the mic. The way my mixtape got so big was cuz of the type of music I would play that people forgot about, the information I gave and how I said it. They felt my swagger by listening to the tape. You felt like you was there when you heard it. Even if it was made in my house it felt like it was made in a stadium. The Old School 1, the Old School 2, the James Brown, all those joints became classics. Magazines started saying I was making millions off the mixtapes, that wasn’t true. I was getting known from people copying the tapes but I wasn’t seeing all that money. The only way to get out of that was to stop it all together

 “How could any stupid person say the DJ’s obsolete? Where does your record get played on a mixtape or on the radio or in the club without the DJ playin’ it? Who else is gonna play it? The artist?”

AllHipHop.com: There’s been some talk dissing DJs lately like maybe they’re even obsolete. What’s your take on that and what’s the DJ’s role at this point in time?Kid Capri: How could any stupid person say the DJ’s obsolete? Where does your record get played on a mixtape or on the radio or in the club without the DJ playin’ it? Who else is gonna play it? The artist? The artist is gonna go in the club, turn on the turntable and play the g######## record? No. And he’s sending his man which is some f****t s**t he’s sending his man to give him a shout-out and let people know he’s in the building instead of him coming to see the DJ. Sit back get your ego together and see the DJ and say “I appreciate you playin’ my s**t, B, and I need you and I love you for playin’ my s**t, you don’t have to play my s**t and I thank you.” Do that to me? Any one of them n****s know you see me you come to my joint you send your man to come say something to me, n***a it’s like you didn’t say s**t at all. You better come see me. “Kid, what’s up? I’m in the building.” People know that from me for years, that ain’t no new story. You’re a f**king star well I’m a star without you. I may not have the millions you have but I’m a star at what I do. You gonna respect what I do not for the fact of me being a DJ but for me being a man period. And then you’re going respect me for what I do. It’s just a matter of respect.AllHipHop.com: Where do you think that mutual respect got lost? Is it when people started to see a lot of money out of this?Kid Capri: That’s what it is, man. Being humble is not a hard thing to do. Everyone loves somebody that’s cool man. People wanna f**k with you, people wanna be around you, people wanna be you by you bein’ cool. If you’re walking around with an attitude cause you got a little money now. cause you a rock star or a rap star that s**t comes and goes. Be a Kid Capri.  Be somebody that’s been here from the beginning and is still here. Be that. Don’t be somebody that blew up and you the man and then you fell the f**k off because of the way you treated people and now you wanna get back and you mad cause nobody wanna help you

“My television presence on Def Comedy Jam you only saw me for a split second on there. Nobody really got what Kid Capri was all about on that show… What I did on Hip-Hop Honors and the BET Awards shows and all that was cool, that was a little display, but there’s so much more that people don’t even know.”

AllHipHop.com: When you look at that history that goes so far back, what really stands out for you personally as a moment?Kid Capri: The one thing that made me real proud and let me know that I really landed was when I got on stage at [Madison Square] Garden for Aaliyah. From what I hear there’s never been any pandemonium like that in the Garden that I created for that ten minutes or fifteen minutes. I’ve had people tell me that they’ve never seen a show like that, that they’d never seen a crowd reaction like the way I had them in the Garden. It was because I did it with just turntables. I did it as a DJ. I wasn’t a rock star, I had no records out, there wasn’t no iconic figure I was just a dude that made it doing it with turntables bigger than anybody else. To get the same reaction or a bigger reaction than an R. Kelly or anyone of these pop people or platinum people that I was able to do that was one of my proudest moments. Out of thousands of shows or parties that was the one that let me know I made it and that people really respect what I do and they understand. From there, being the first dude who owns a tour bus in Hip-Hop, being in all the television shows as a DJ, that let me know that I put the work in and I opened doors. Anytime somebody rolls up on me in a mall or on the street or at one of my shows and they say Kid it’s because of you I ain’t killin’ nobody right now, I ain’t robbin’ nobody’s house, it’s cause of you I changed my life it’s because of you I started deejaying and I’m able to take care of my family. Every time I hear it that s**t makes me feel better than anything because I know I made a difference to people and I didn’t have no records to do it, I didn’t have no strong television presence. My television presence on Def Comedy Jam you only saw me for a split second on there. Nobody really got what Kid Capri was all about on that show. That’s a conversation I just had with Doug E. Fresh. When people get a chance to see what I really do on the road, when they got a chance to see that that’s gonna be a whole other level. What I did on Hip-Hop Honors and the BET Awards shows and all that was cool, that was a little display, but there’s so much more that people don’t even know. When they get a chance to see that’s gonna really let people know that there’s no DJ on earth that does what this dude does. That’s not a cocky statement that’s not a bragging statement, that’s a fact. The reason is because I come from the Kool Herc days, Grandmaster Flash, Theodore, Breakout all these dudes from back then I was watching as a little kid all the way up until now. I put all those things together and that’s a much bigger look than someone who came in the business five years ago ten years ago. You’re talking about someone who’s been in the business 32 years. Hip-Hop is 32 years old, I’ve been there for 32 years. I can go out with Rakim, KRS, different people. I go back to the old school people and then I can go to the new people. I can rock with anybody. I didn’t [get] sucked into the timeline. I can rock with anybody, that’s a great thing.AllHipHop.com: One last question: what’s your number one record of all time?Kid Capri: Number one record of all time? [pauses to think]. To me, “The 900 Number.” AllHipHop.com: Any reason?Kid Capri: It doesn’t matter where you’re at, what age it is, everybody knows that record. That s**t the 45 King put together, that s### goes [hums saxophone line], no hook no rap, everybody knows that s###. White people, Chinese people. Everybody knows that record. That’s one of the all time greats.

The T.I. that you read about in the media is presently the exact opposite of the T.I. that sits before you to discuss his upcoming album Paper Trail. Perhaps that’s a continuation of his T.I. vs. T.I.P. alter ego, or maybe he’s just growing up. T.I.’s “paper trail” runs thick, including banknotes and legal documents, but none that would call him a snitch. Regardless of the media hype – from tons of guns to Shawty Lo and 50 Cent drama to b#### slapping Luda’s manager Chaka Zulu – T.I. is as calm as ever, reflecting on the past, accepting it, and moving forward. T.I.’s involvement with the law reads like a well-dressed crime novel, inevitably forcing him to lose his right to vote. That doesn’t stop him from respecting yours, as his Respect My Vote campaign with the Hip-Hop Caucus is currently one of his main focuses, among other things. He even proudly dons a Respect My Vote t-shirt. Besides that, T.I. has a budding acting career, a new son, and a love life that he chooses to play like Jayonce and keep on the low. Let’s not forget the album, Paper Trail, available on “Grand Hustle Day” September 30th – a release date that he shares with labelmate Big Kuntry. As T.I. sits back and reflects on the past year, he explains his formula for peace – accepting God in your life, and letting your momma do whatever she wants with the house you bought her.AllHipHop.com: So first things first, you know we’re anticipating your album Paper Trail.T.I: September 30th.    AllHipHop.com: Yes. And it’s been quite an interesting year; it’s a change for you. Does the album reflect that at all?T.I: Absolutely. This album as all of my other albums is indeed a reflection of my life, what I’m going through, how I’m getting through it, my mind state, my emotional state.T.I. “Whatever You Like”AllHipHop.com: Many people consider King to be an epic album. T.I: Thank you.AllHipHop.com: In the albums that followed King, did you always feel that you had to make albums that had to compete with it at all?T.I: No. King represented me in that period of my life. There are certain elements in my life that have changed dramatically, so there’s no way I can compete with that. I have to make an album that’s true to my current situation. That’s not just for [Paper Trail], that’s for T.I vs. T.I.P. I made an album that was true and relevant to the person that I was at that time. This album’s the same, the next album will be the same and so on and so forth.AllHipHop.com: What would you consider your mind state to be right now?T.I: Calm. Secure. I think that I really drifted business wise. I spent so much time sitting still not being able to conduct business – to make a move to take advantage of opportunities – so right now I’m trying to make up for all that lost time.AllHipHop.com: Now you’ve had a few brushes with the law…[T.I. laughs and spits out the coffee he’s sipping]T.I: That was funny how you tried to understate that statement. That was funny, yeah.AllHipHop.com: What would you consider to be some lessons learned?T.I: Um…let me see, lessons learned – through God all things are possible. We learn that the decisions you make can very well affect your future. We learn that there’s no status that you can be that supersedes poor judgment, and you learn that walking with guns and fire is [as] safe as walking with God. AllHipHop.com: Did you want to clear up anything going on with the Shawty Lo situation? I’m sure that there’s kind of been a back and forth type of thing.T.I: Yeah, but you know what? I’ma end that right here. I ain’t speaking on it, it’s over for me. I don’t want to speak anymore. I ain’t speaking on it.AllHipHop.com: So it’s a done deal.T.I: Done deal for me. All my beefs, situations and issues with anybody, you know it’s been done for me in my head. But if you know what I’m just saying it’s just I’m saying verbally I’m through. I got other stuff, I gotta bring little son up you know what I’m sayin’? That’s a thing I need to do. It’s real trivial from my angle.AllHipHop.com: Yeah and with the whole 50 Cent snitching situation, you kind of took on the same kind of mentality, though. Like it’s not worth it.T.I: I’m not…I mean you know, I worry about the truth and to be quite honest with you, I ain’t got myself into any situation for anybody in regards to anything that wasn’t true. So I shouldn’t even be involving myself in matters that don’t end and begin with truth.You know somebody can say something about me that’s true then maybe, maybe just maybe. I mean I got too much on my plate right now, it’s just really no time.  And I’m really just blessed to be here and I’m not gon’…I’m not gon’ slap the powers that be, being God, in the face by involving myself in anything that’s just like I said trivial, unimportant. If anybody ever been in a situation similar to mine, you already know once your agreement has been agreed to, it’s supposed to work with journalists, press, people. You know you can Google my name T.I is agreed with you know what I’m saying? It’s gon’ pop off and any of those claims….and [50 Cent] said he wanna talk about it, that’s what I heard, but if any of those claims – it’s not even him, it’s other people like online talking ‘bout, “Oh he did this, he did that.” If that was the truth, it would be in my agreement, all you got to do is pull my agreement up; there’s no such thing as a secret exchange. If that was the case there’d be no such thing as the witness protection program.AllHipHop.com: Right.T.I: Everyone knows that in order to get favor shown to you by the government in exchange for cooperation, you have to sign documents, you got to come to court, you got to physically point people out and at least someone saying, “Yes I am the person that he put here.”And that’s not the case. Man if I was lying, people just don’t want to excel, but God got another plan for me that supersedes the other issues; my stupidity you know what I’m saying and anyone else’s opinions. God’s plan – that’s over all – and I’m sorry if they don’t like it. I think they’re barking up the wrong tree they need to take it upstairs you know?AllHipHop.com: You’re one of the few artists that you know if trouble finds you, you accept it as a mistake and you keep moving forward. But why do you feel that people are still trying to test you then?T.I: [laughs] I don’t know, maybe ‘cause I’m good looking. I don’t know man, I guess [people] get tired of [their] little girlfriends talking about me. You know everywhere keep talking about you, keep talking about you. “I’m tired of this n***a,” you know what I’m saying? I don’t know what it is, maybe my size, maybe they feel that because of my size that I’ma be an easy [target].AllHipHop.com: So how do you manage to keep such a healthy married life you know being…?T.I: How do I manage to keep such a healthy what?AllHipHop.com: Married life.T.I: Who? [laughs]AllHipHop.com: Married life. [laughs]T.I.: [laughs]. We’re actually a couple.AllHipHop.com: Love life.T.I: Secret. Top secret. I am drawing from the book and blueprint of Jay and B you know what I’m sayin’. I see it’s obviously worked and I have seen the other way fail so many times, and I care too much about my situation to allow it to fall victim to such unfortunate circumstances. So next question. [laughs and toasts with his cup of coffee]AllHipHop.com: Taken well. So you know you’re the King of the South… T.I: Yeah.

“You can call me the King you can call me rubberband man, you can call [Wayne] the monster, the greatest rapper alive, just call the South number one when you do it.”

AllHipHop.com: But with the rise of Lil Wayne do you feel that’s affecting your title at all?T.I: No, that’s my partner you know. I salute, I salute. Shorty just like if I come out and if I say it more than him when his album’s released it’s not gonna affect his title as the best rapper alive you know what I’m sayin’? Like we co-exist with one another, we have a mutual understanding, respect for one another. I mean I don’t ever claim to be able to do what he do nor does he claim to be able to do what I do. We both have our own positions that we play, but our main goal/focus is make sure that the South stay on top. So you can call me the King you can call me rubberband man, you can call [Wayne] the monster, the greatest rapper alive, just call the South number one when you do it.AllHipHop.com: How did you get a song with Ludacris [“Wish You Would”] after the situation with his management?T.I: I told you, I’m done with all that. When I say I’m done with that, I ain’t just talking you know? I’m doing everything in my power if I can to move forward, and that’s just an example of that. But you know me and ‘Cris have always spoke. We never had no problems – we speak, he has my number. I have his. It’s always been that way. I’ve never known – and I’ve went at it with a lot of cats – but I’ve never had such worthy competition.As a mutual respect you know I’m sure that [Ludacris] has to acknowledge my contributions just like I got to acknowledge his. I ain’t never been a hater and now is not the time for me to start, so we ain’t got no problems with one another. If it ain’t no beef, ain’t no reason why we shouldn’t be able to work together.Wish You Would – Ludacris ft. T.I.AllHipHop.com: True. Let’s talk about the Respect My Vote campaign.T.I: I’m working alongside the Hip Hop Caucus, and it’s a voter registration campaign and we’re doing everything in our power – from rallies to PSA’s to public appearances, television appearances, print ads, everything that we can think of to do – to create awareness and encourage masses to get out there and become a part of the decision making process. It’s special. It’s special, not only but especially young people between the ages of 18 to 29 who are not in college because the statistic of people between 18 and 29 who are not in college that don’t vote are 93 percent.     With this being the most important election of our lifetime and this being the most critical condition of the country and our lifetime, I think for us to not be a part of this process is detrimental to our progress. I’m doing everything I can – and not to mention I ain’t gonna be able to vote, so I’m just trying to make up for my minus one.If I can make up for my minus one by encouraging one million to get out there and do they thing, then I feel like my job is done. And not to mention man in 2000 man – 2000 which could arguably be said that that’s the election that got us in this whole mess to begin with – it can be arguably be said that we wouldn’t be at war, that the state of the economy would not be the same, a lot of the judicial standings would not be the same had it not been for the 2000 election. The 2000 election was decided by under 600 votes, 583 I think…under 600 votes. If 600 people would of got up, got out, did they thing we probably wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with and we cannot afford for history to repeat itself.AllHipHop.com: Why do you think the government designs the voting system to not include people who have a record?T.I: I’m not going to say anything bad about the government. [laughs] Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-government whatsoever. I love my country you know what I’m sayin’? I’m a patriot, I try to be. I’m a tax-paying upstanding citizen. I ain’t got nothing bad to say about my government. I mean no system is perfect, but I think even more so than that it’s up to the people to do everything in their power to work within the system. First you must understand the workings and rules of the system. Once you have knowledge of that, you now work within the system to get done what you think needs to be done. Now if you find out that the rules are this, this, this and this and you know you just don’t feel like doing it, then that’s your fault, it’s not the system’s fault. If you didn’t like it, if you think it should have been different, you should have been more involved earlier on so you could of weighed in on the decision making process whether or not it should be this way. If you fail to even become knowledgeable of the system and you go out there out of your own ignorance and then you find out in order to vote you gotta do this, you gotta do this, and this you gotta do this, well then you should’ve found out first.You should’ve researched but now all you have to do is go to HipHopCaucus.org and they’ll walk you straight through it. Just put the Playstation down for a second, come home from the club and go to HipHopCaucus.org. They’ll take care of it.AllHipHop.com: Who would you say has been one of the most positive influences in your life?T.I : I mean of course my family, my uncles, my grandfather my grandmomma, my momma, my daddy, you know. But outside of my family in recent history, I had the pleasure of speaking to and being mentored by Ambassador Andrew Young. He’s been an outstanding inspiration to do the right thing.AllHipHop.com: Growing up what was your favorite subject in school?T.I: Math.AllHipHop.com: And what did you want to be when you grew up?T.I: This.AllHipHop.com: Yeah?T.I: That’s it.AllHipHop.com: If you weren’t doing this where would you be?T.I: Real estate, construction, still business.AllHipHop.com: With some math in there.T.I: Yeah, absolutely. I got to be able to add, subtract, divide and multiply.AllHipHop.com: You’re very fortunate that your career includes the math of many album sales and stuff. How do you keep humble? How do you keep going and not get so jaded by anything?T.I: I mean I guess it would be [attributed] to my morals, standards, principles, beliefs, foundation, upbringing, my grandmom, my momma…see I know if I get out there, I can’t get big headed. My momma’ll say, “Boy you still…” My momma say, “Don’t forget where you came from.” And my momma like…’cause you know I bought – I gave my mom my old house. You know 10,000 square foot, $850,000 house. And you know she got a sub zero refrigerator, granite countertops, mahogany wood floors. She still take the plastic grocery bags and tie ’em around the knobs of the cabinets. I say, “Momma why you do that? You know you don’t have to do that.” “Oh I ain’t wasting nothing, you can’t tell me, I’ma keep my bags. I know where I came from.” “But momma you don’t have to. You need some bags I’ll get you some trash bags.” “I got trash bags, this my house.” So I’m like, “Alright momma you got it. It’s cool.” I think things like that, you know, they taught me how to withstand any conditions and how to be comfortable with the most life has to offer or the less in life or the least life has to offer.My uncle man, my uncle raised me as a man, my pops raised me as a man; not as a superstar, not as a celebrity. Stars are in the sky, people are in the streets. My status is just due to my, I guess you know, my occupation. That’s not where I end and begin. I’m a man first before anything, and I keep that in mindI don’t think I’m better than nobody else – I may look better than some people [laughs] –but I don’t think that makes me better than nobody else. I mean I’m still the same dude, I’m still the same cat, got the same friends you know I still…I live somewhere different, I enjoy different things now, but I’m still the same person man.AllHipHop.com: What kind of acting projects do you have coming up?T.I: Bone Deep is the film that I’ll be starting on in September and it’s starring Idris Elba, Matt Dillon, Chris Brown and myself. It’s an action drama movie, it’s a flick about some young, cool, fly well dressed, good looking, intelligent, articulate…bank robbers. You know, not just your shoot’em up bang bang, bust’em in the bank Set It Off bank robbers, I’m talking inside man, Ocean’s 11 heat type bank robbers. I’m one of the producers also. I’m looking forward to that.AllHipHop.com: Common was talking about how as an MC once you go through with acting and you start becoming an actor as well, the pressure off releasing that album that makes that hit is kind of easier because you know you got that acting money that’s coming in.T.I: [laughs] Well hey I don’t know about Common, I can’t really…Common done been in a few more movies than me, but I ain’t really got no money like that on acting. Both the movies I did I lost money. I put off millions of dollars, yeah, to do ATL like with touring I put [off] millions of dollars to do ATL for the opportunity and I’m glad I did it, it worked out. Now American Gangster did take off better than ATL and didn’t cost me as much, but I damn near ended up paying them to do it. But I’m not doing it for the money right now. AllHipHop.com: So there’s also a rumor that you’re in Fast and the Furious 4.T.I: I ain’t…I been hearing that rumor man! Whoever doing Fast and the Furious y’all need to holla at me, because I don’t know nothing about me being in the Fast and the Furious. I mean for real. I didn’t even know they were doing another one. Not to say that I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t know nothing about it. Do you know what the script is about? Do you know what the premise of the next one is, I don’t know?AllHipHop.com: Does it like freak you out where you know you’ll hear something like that and just be like where’d this come from?T.I: Freak me out? Nah…it’s a part of the job.AllHipHop.com: If you had known before becoming T.I what was going to happen – you know with people testing you, trying to put your stuff out in the public and everything – would you still have gotten into it?T.I: That’s a very worthy question. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know man. If I knew how much hate was involved, how similar the dangers were, I don’t know. I don’t know, I probably would have. I probably would have, but can’t tell.

“I made the adjustments in my life that I feel were necessary for me to grow and expand and mature as a man. It’s unfortunate that it took such a severe situation to bring about that change, but what’s important is that the change happened.”

AllHipHop.com: Would you say at this point in time you’re 100 percent happy?T.I: 100 percent happy…yeah, yeah, yeah definitely. I think I’m happier now than I was before. I made the adjustments in my life that I feel were necessary for me to grow and expand and mature as a man. It’s unfortunate that it took such a severe situation to bring about that change, but what’s important is that the change happened, so yeah I’m happy.AllHipHop.com: What would you say is one of the smartest decisions you’ve ever made in this industry?T.I: One of the smartest decisions that I’ve ever made in this industry is to start my own company and lead my way after the first album. Let me see…and to step away from music for a minute to film ATL. Those pretty much they standout off top. The best thing for myself – and oh, to do mixtapes – the first album didn’t work, started doing mixtapes to keep myself present in the marketplace instead of just waiting on the label to do something for me.AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about your company, Grand Hustle. Explain why you got started and talk about some of the artists that you work with.T.I: Big Kuntry King – his album comes out September 30th as well as mine – name of his album is My Time to Eat. Alfamega, I Am Alfamega comes out in October, DJ Drama he’s preparing his album and getting ready for a release later this year, hopefully by the holidays, and Young LA his single “Ain’t I” is tearing the clubs up, taking off in the South. He’s about to start on his second single. JR “Get Money” you know his first single, “Nobody But You,” ladies will love it, it’s doing very well. Let’s see 8Ball & MJG, they’re working on they album we’ve had the pleasure of welcoming them to the family. [Young] Dro. Dro has just finished his second album and picking the first single for him, he’ll be ready to go the beginning of next year. So we’re doing pretty well.AllHipHop.com: Why did you decide to put your album and the Big Kuntry album on the same day?T.I: Well because I figure people will already be in the record stores, they’ll already be encouraged to buy music, so why not support both members of the hustle while they at it?AllHipHop.com: Makes sense. So what else do you have coming up besides that?T.I: My clothing line, AKOO, a king of oneself. It’s gonna be launching October/November of this year. We’ll be at Magic, so you can catch me there and I’m proud of it. I’m looking forward to releasing it and presenting it to the world.AllHipHop.com: So when do you sleep?T.I: [laughs] Ahh not much. I don’t know man, the Lord promised me I would get enough sleep when I die, and He promised me all the sleep I want when I die.