A HUGE US rapper has announced that he’s retiring from performing at the age of 44, and said “I don’t need the money.”
Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., otherwise known as his stage name, T.I., is an American rapper from Atlanta.
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The 44-year-old artist first came to light when he was selling mixtapes with his rapper friend known as Big Kuntry King.
But now he’s planning to put down the mic, after he does one final show.
In an interview with Atlanta’s 96.1 The Beat, he told hosts Ferrari Simmons and BT that his swansong will be at the station’s upcoming Jingle Ball festival in Atlanta.
T.I. will headline, and join the likes of Khalid, Tinashe, T-Pain and The Kid Laroi at the festival.
Discussing why now is the time to say goodbye to the stage, Billboard reports that the rapper said: “I appreciate y’all for offering me my last working gig because I do not need the money anymore and I will not be performing.
“I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want people to pay me to hop around and sweat for their entertainment anymore.”
Ferrari then asked him what he’d be doing about another upcoming show he has, to which he said: “’I’m going to answer the phone to tell them that I will not be performing.”
But while as of now his last performance will be on December 19 at the 93.1 The Beat’s Jingle Ball show, he did say he’d perform again despite his retirement, but on his own terms.
T.I. grew up in Atlanta, which is where his final performance will also be.
T.I.P. was his original stage name and stems from his childhood nickname “Tip,” given by his grandfather.
He later changed it to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip.
He was called the “Jay-Z of the South” by Pharrell Williams and would establish himself as one of rap’s most successful MCs during the early 2000s.
T.I. has dozens of film and television credits and appeared in the movie American Gangster with Denzel Washington.
The rapper is married to Tameka Harris, who was nicknamed “Tiny” due to her 4 foot 11 inch frame, and she first emerged as a member of the band Xscape.
Xscape was an R&B band formed in 1992 by Kandi Burruss, Tiny and others.
Tiny sang lead for hit singles Understanding, My Little Secret, and Do You Want To.
The couple wed in June 2010.
T.I. has seven children – four with Harris with one lost at birth.
The others are Messiah Ya’Majesty and Domani with Lashon Dixon and Deyjah Imani with Ms Niko.
Six of his kids regularly appear on the VH1 show about his family called T.I. & Tiny: Friends & Family Hustle.
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