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Instagram TikTok YouTube Google Discover Google Top Posts Video Members Facebook Instagram TikTok Reddit YouTube Google Discover Google Top Posts Search Culture Pulse Tech Munchies Drugs Music Waypoint Photography Sex Travel via Comedy Entertainment Music The 90s Hip-Hop Legend Who Made T.I. Delay His Debut Album Over 20 Years Ago: ‘I Definitely Conceded’ By Caleb Catlin

X Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard .chargbee-tabs .tab-button .discount{ display:none; } .chargbee-tabs .tab-button .discount .discount-tag{ line-height: 24px !important; } .chargbee-tabs .tab-button.most-popular .join-now-button:hover { background: #000 !important; color: #fff !important; outline: 1px solid #fff !important; } .chargbee-tabs .tab-button .join-now-button:hover { background: 0 0; outline: 1px solid rgba(12, 12, 12, 1); color: rgba(12, 12, 12, 1); } @media (max-width: 1220px){ .chargbee-tabs .tab-button .join-now-button { width: 100% !important; position: unset !important; } } When you think of a rapper named Tip, do you think of Q-Tip or T.I.? Ultimately, it feels like a difference in culture and region. Older hip-hop fans, especially those in New York, will probably think of the legend from A Tribe Called Quest. But southern rap fans might think of it as another name for the Atlanta legend.

According to a 2014 interview with NPR, Tip was initially supposed to be his name. People in his neighborhood had historically called him that anyway. But given that he and Q-Tip were both on the same label, all parties involved found it to be far too complicated to navigate. But that left T.I. in a complicated situation: what does he call himself now?

“We were both on Arista and we was trying to release my first album. The people who had to market, promote, and, you know, just spread the word on it communicated that it was somewhat difficult or confusing to have two Tips in one building. So out of respect and just the legendary reputation and career that preceded that situation, I definitely conceded,” he recalled. “My problem, or conflict, at the time, was now this is what I’ve been called all my life, what do I change my name to?”

It took T.I.P. a long time to find something that felt just right, even delaying his debut album in the process. Eventually, a worker at LaFace Records heard that he spelled his name out on one of the songs. So why not just go with T.I.?

Admittedly, the Trap Muzik rapper didn’t love the idea. It’s incomplete, and it doesn’t make sense in his eyes. However, everyone just kind of shrugged and accepted it because there wasn’t a better idea in mind. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute, wait a minute. No. That was — you left out a letter still!’ You know what I’m saying? He was like, ‘Well, listen man. You got something better?’” T.I. said. “‘No, I don’t have — I don’t have anything better.’ ‘Well, that’s what we going with, man.’ So it’s kinda how it came about.”

X Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard MoreLike This (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage) The 90s Hip-Hop Legend Who Made T.I. Delay His Debut Album Over 20 Years Ago: ‘I Definitely Conceded’ 3 hours ago By Caleb Catlin