How TI stopped a random man from jumping off a building
Rapper TI is not just a Grammy award-winning artist, pioneer of 21st century rap innovation, celebrated actor and record executive; he is also, it turns out, a literal life-saver.
In an interview in 2010, he explained how he aided in talking a suicidal man down from jumping off a 22-storey building, elaborating on how when driving through his hometown of Atlanta, he heard on the local radio that the man was on the roof of the city’s 400 Colony Square building. According to TI, he then drove down to the scene and told the police he would help if anything was needed.
He then subsequently recorded a video, which was then played to the man, with a message that said “that I was here and I was looking forward to meeting him and no matter what’s going on in life now, it gets better”. The desperate man was eventually convinced by the police to come down from the building, and he spoke to TI for a few minutes, who remained in the vicinity; he was then carted off to the hospital for an evaluation. “I’m not taking any credit,” the rapper humbly commented on the incident.
This is remarkably not the first time TI has helped to save a life, as, according to Scott Stapp, former frontman of rock band Creed, the rapper saved him after an accident in 2006.
“I had an accident and I was injured, and he found me injured and called an ambulance. He definitely was quick going to get me the help I needed when I was injured,” Stapp once told TMZ in 2018, adding, “We briefly spoke, and gave each other a hug. He’s a good dud … He seems to be at the right place at the right time. He’s a good man with a good heart.”
The musician explained, “I had met TI back in 2004, we were both writing for the Songs Inspired by The Passion of the Christ album, and we had briefly interacted there and knew what each looked like. We’d talked about being fans of Alabama… It’s ironic; he walked in, and I found out later it was the only room left in the hotel, and he came in off the street and came out, and as I’m lying on the ledge, blood fell to [TI’s] feet, and he looked up and he had an Alabama hat on.”
TI, born Clifford Joseph Harris, is celebrated for leading the hip-hop subgenre of trap music, with hits including the 2008 Billboard number-one singles ‘Whatever You Like’, and ‘Live Your Life’ featuring Rihanna, being the first rapper to have one single replace the other on the chart.
Other notable songs the musician has released or featured on include 2007’s ‘What You Know’ and ‘Big Shit Poppin (Do It)’, and Robin Thicke’s controversial ‘Blurred Lines’ in 2013. Not only has TI notched three Grammy Awards, but also 12 Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, and three Bet Awards, and he doesn’t rest there, as his acting credits include Entourage, Ant-Man and its sequel, and Popstar: Never Stop Stopping, in which he plays himself.