It’s no secret that T.I. has an appreciation for Tupac, that’s been apparent from the jump. When Tupac was honored in 2017 at The Rock Hall Of Fame, it was T.I. who threw on his best Pac-inspired fit and started rapping. You can even go further back to the 2006 hit he had with Ashanti which threw in an old verse from Tupac to create the smash “Pac’s Life.” T.I. took to Instagram to liken his and Pac’s careers in terms of the total package, music, business, and everything else.
“Who since 2Pac has maintained as much consistent diversity within music genres, businesses & other opportunities?” he asked.
Clifford Harris really has had an incredible career; whether it’s at the level of someone like Tupac, I’m not sure, but he’s definitely made his impact felt. You can go all the way back to Trap Muzik to talk about how important he is to today’s sound. While trap definitely existed before, he made it popular in a similar way that Tupac had suburban teenagers rapping songs like “Hit ‘Em Up.”
Since 2003, T.I. has had eight top-ten albums and is also pretty well-known for his filmography (shout out to ATL) — something Tupac was obviously known for and was looking to grow on at the time of his death. I can definitely see where Harris is getting these thoughts from, his impact has been pretty big in this industry.
In the comments section, a fan asked about Jay-Z’s place in comparison to a figure like Tupac. His response, while respectfully calling Hov the G.O.A.T., asked which major films Jay had been in. There’s definitely some truth to that and while Jay has been an incredible entrepreneur, he hasn’t crossed platforms like T.I. has, although I’m sure he could have had he been interested in doing so. What are your thoughts on T.I.’s assertions? Post ’em below.
