Song:Live Your Life
Album:Paper Trail
Clifford "T.I." Harris Jr. probably had a longer run than most rappers despite spending significant time in jail. He scored two number one hits. The 2008 single Live Your Life was the bigger hit because Rihanna was on it. Harris is probably more active today as an actor. He was born Sept. 25, 1980 in Atlanta. He was raised by his grandparents. Harris began rapping at age eight. His childhood nickname was Tip and he became T.I. so he wouldn't get confused with Q-Tip. Harris sold mixtapes out of his car with rapper Sean "Big Kuntry King" Merrett and they were discovered by Kawan "KP" Prather and signed to Arista Records. Prather had worked with other Atlanta rappers. Harris released his debut CD I'm Serious in 2001. Arista dropped him when the album didn't sell. Harris started his own label Grand Hustle with Atlantic distribution. His subsequent albums did very well and Bring 'Em Out and What You Know were top ten hits. But the 2008 album Paper Trail was his most successful. Harris was a drug dealer as a teen. But then he was arrested in 2007 on a weapons charge. So he was under house arrest while recording Paper Trail. Whatever You Like was his first number one single. This was followed by Live Your Life. Harris wrote the song with Makeba Riddick and Dan Balan with Rihanna in mind. Fortunately, she agreed to do it and her participation was probably the main reason the song was a number one hit. Paper Trail was certified 2XPlatinum and it is Harris' most successful album to date. He hasn't been as successful since then. Two stretches in prison will do that. Harris still records. He has a new album The Dime Trap coming soon. And he has been acting since starring in the 2006 film ATL. He currently appears in the new film Ant-Man and the Wasp. I guess his best known production was the 2009 MTV reality show T.I.'s Road To Redemption. His most successful film to date was the 2010 film Takers. So like many rappers, films may be a bigger part of Harris' future than rap. Here's the video for Live Your Life by T.I. featuring Rihanna.
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