T.I. reveals one of the worst decisions of his career
T.I. has admitted to one of the worst decisions he’s made during his music career.
The 45-year-old has been releasing music for over 25 years and has had enough time to reflect on the most pivotal moments in his life.
During a recent interview with Billboard, he revealed that he regretted leaving Atlantic Records.
“One of the reasons why I made one of the toughest decisions, arguably one of the worst decisions, in my career – I made the decision to leave Atlantic, quite honestly, because I just got tired of wondering, ‘Was my success predicted on me or them?'” he said. “I had to know.”
T.I. was signed to the Warner subsidiary for 10 years, releasing his last album with them, Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head, in 2013.
“I stepped away, and I almost immediately could see and tell there were a lot of things being done, you know, on my behalf, for my benefit, that I was probably oblivious to,” he said. “At that moment, once I found that out, I was eager to learn what those things were and how to identify and execute those things on my own behalf.”
He claimed Atlantic had a “magic wand,” explaining, “I recorded the music, but when I handed it off to them… [they] turned into the success that we all knew. I enjoyed the success and appreciated it – I just wanted to see what it took for me to do it myself.”
Following his final album with Atlantic, he went on to sign with Columbia Records and Epic Records before going independent.
T.I. is set to release his final album, Kill the King, later this year via his own label, Grand Hustle Records.