Rappers on a considerable creative run don't like to slow down, especially when there's an incoming U.S. president providing a constant source of songwriting material.
Multiple Grammy Award winner Clifford Harris Jr. - otherwise known as T.I. - released an EP of politically charged music in September, and followed up his six-song Us or Else mini album with the full-length Us or Else: Letter to the System in December. He coupled that with his biggest Canadian tour to date, one that got underway Thursday night in Vancouver, hits Prince George tonight at the Civic Centre and includes sold-out dates Sunday and Monday in Victoria.
That's what you call being on a hip-hop heater.
Some rappers choose to sit on vaults of music, much of which never sees the light of day due to fast-changing trends. But the Atlanta-bred Harris believes his music should be released shortly after it is recorded. That the songs on both Us or Else efforts zero in on police brutality, race relations and the #BlackLivesMatter movement only reinforced the need to get the music out in stores before U.S. president-elect Donald Trump took office, the 36-year-old said.
"Us or Else is a moment in time, and I dedicated this moment and this time in my life to a particular cause and purpose," Harris said Tuesday from his home in Atlanta. "This was more of a message that I wanted to convey. I wanted to make sure I spoke out on these issues that are affecting me and other Americans in a way that could bring about a certain level of change."
The process of making two lightning-rod recordings was emotionally exhausting, so he will shift his priorities over the coming months into "T.I. album mode," Harris said. "We'll be right back in the clubs before you know it."
T.I. music works well in the clubs; that's his southern drawl you hear on Blurred Lines, the Robin Thicke smash from 2013 that became one of the best-selling singles of all time. He was a chart-busting performer long before that, however. Harris-penned singles have made him one of the most prominent rappers in America, with a track record that include 55 appearances on Billboard's Hot 100 singles charts via collaborations with Justin Timberlake, Kanye West, Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Eminem.
He's also an actor with nearly a dozen films on his resume and title roles in two reality TV series, including T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle, about his marriage to Tameka "Tiny" Cottle (TMZ is reporting that the couple, which is raising six children, is attempting to reconcile after Cottle filed for divorce in December).
Like many rappers of today, he's also a businessman with varied financial investments, including streaming service Tidal (which he co-owns with Jay-Z, Beyonc, Madonna and others) and several clubs in the Atlanta area. The King of the South moniker to which Harris lays claim is apt, indeed.
"I never try and fit myself into one way of doing things," he said. "Diversity and being multi-faceted is something I've always been able to pride myself on."
His recent forays into political waters added another element to the T.I. persona, one that has endured some knocks over the years. He was sentenced to 11 months in jail for violating his parole in 2010, a drug-related charge that eventually sent Harris to rehab (he told Barbara Walters during a 2011 interview that he "accepted in order to have a different result, you have to take a different approach" and has reportedly been sober ever since).
He found his social conscience on the Us or Else project. After meeting black leaders such as Harry Belafonte and Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan, Harris penned a series of open letters to Barack Obama, praising the outgoing U.S. president and promising him "your legacy will live on long after your presidency."
Harris is choosing to keep mum on president-elect Trump, and said he will speak out if he thinks it is necessary.
"It didn't knock me off my game (when Trump won the election), but I immediately began to wrap my mind around it and see if there was any alternative action that could be taken. But ultimately you have to respond to it the way Hillary (Clinton) responded to it. I can't fight any harder to oppose something that involves her more than she can. Seeing her accept it gave me more of a sense of acceptance."
He has been doing rounds of press interviews to promote Us or Else, and in bigger urban markets in the U.S. has been met with plenty of questions about his celebrity. Harris flatly refuses to discuss the topic or how it affects his family, telling an Atlanta radio host Monday morning that "it ain't your business, man."
He was less aggressive on Tuesday.
"You don't balance it," Harris said of his personal and professional lives. "You just accept what you can and express your displeasure. It comes with the territory. You deal with as much as you can and the things you can't deal with you express your displeasure and move on."
