When T.I. declared himself the “King of the South”, he had the backing of his peers from the South.
When he first took on the moniker, T.I. thought he was inviting some smoke from his fellow rappers. He soon discovered that they endorsed the idea.
“The first time I called myself the ‘King of the South,’ I went and asked everybody that I had access to for their blessings,” he told AllHipHop. He said he spoke to southern rap legends such as Scarface, Big Boi and André 3000 from OutKast, the Goodie Mobb, Bun B, and 8 Ball & MJG.
“I remember Scarface said, ‘Hell yeah go ahead. I don’t wanna be king! You could have that sh*t,’” he explained. “Then I asked 3000 and he hit me with, ‘What does it really mean to be king?’ And Big Boi said, ‘Aight now, be careful what you ask for because you known as the king, they gon’ put the target on your back. Ain’t nobody going to be trying to help you out with nothing. So just be careful what you ask for.’”
T.I. also shared that it took him a while to comprehend the Houston legend’s words.
“It took me later in life to really understand what he was telling me,” T.I. said. “He was really telling me that I was causing myself to have more anguish than necessary — like in chess, the object is to kill the king.”
Almost two decades later, the “Bring Em Out” rapper is set to drop his final album titled Kill The King / Kiss The King. He shared his creative approach to the project.
“Yeah, I’m working up towards it. I’m working on some music, and it’s expanding beyond the concept of my last album,” he told “The Baller Alert Show. “My last album is called Kill The King. I’ve been making more melodic and Afro Beats and R&B vibes. So I’m making two albums. One would be Kiss The King, and one will be Kill The King.”
“It’s gon’ be edgy, energetic,” T.I continued. “It’s gon’ have a lot of Tip in it… but I’ve been making somewhat, I guess, more melodic, you know, more R&B vibes, Afrobeat-R&B vibe, party music.”
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