Atlanta emcee T.I. is mainly known as a musician. As well as being a rapper, the Bankhead native has also done his fair share of acting and produced his own reality TV show. However, few know that the I’m Serious act once helped save the life of a suicidal man.
T.I. (real name Clifford Harris) has been in the headlines for multiple reasons over his 20-year career. From controversies surrounding his precarious marriage to his arrests for drug charges, the emcee is no stranger to bad publicity. However, in 2010, the P$C frontman made headlines for one very heroic act.
In 2010, the Southern lyricist was a newlywed man who had just married his wife Tiny and released his seventh studio album, No Mercy. Furthermore, the couple had just launched their infamous reality VH1 TV series, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle. Still, while driving in his hometown, the rhymer saw the Atlanta Police Department (APD) caught up in a commotion.
The police officers were attempting to persuade a man not to jump off the roof of a 22-floor high-rise tower block known as the Colony Square building on the city’s renowned Peachtree Street. Upon seeing this, Harris joined in the effort to urge the suicidal man to step back from the edge of the skyscraper.
In an interview with the Associated Press, T.I. explained, “I told him it ain’t that bad. It’ll get better, to put the time and effort into making it better. I just reminded him know that I know. It looks bad right now, but it can turn around.” The Atlanta native said the man seemed to be “beat up by life.”
The APD spokesman, James Polite, stated after the incident that Harris “appeared out of nowhere”. However, it was later revealed that the Trap Muzik act heard about the situation on the radio station V-103 and purposefully drove to the scene.
Polite also praised Harris for his dedication, stating, “He didn’t have to stop. He could’ve kept on going about his business. We’re happy it ended the way it did, and we thank him.” Following the scare, the unnamed man was taken into custody and transported to Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital for a psychological evaluation.
You can watch a video of the close-call incident in the video below.
