Monday, October 15, 2007
Music news T.I. vs. ATF: BET weekend sobers up in response
Posted by Rodney Carmichael @Rappin_Rodney on Mon, Oct 15, 2007 at 10:44 PM
From the shooting allegedly involving rapper J.T. Money at Opera on Thursday night to T.I.'s gun-related arrest by federal agents just hours before the awards show was scheduled to begin at the Civic Center Saturday evening, the BET Hip-Hop Awards weekend seemed to go from bad to worse and has left an air of depression over much of the city's hip-hop community.
The cathartic conclusion to the weekend's events occurred Sunday at Justin's restaurant, where AllHipHop.com hosted a brunch featuring Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, who addressed an audience of rappers, industry supporters and fans alike about the seemingly dire state of hip-hop.
The emotional floodgates swung open Monday morning as callers and show hosts voiced their opinions on Atlanta's urban stations, V-103 (WVEE-FM 103.3) and HOT 107.9 (WHTA-FM). When the conversation turned to T.I.'s arrest, listening to the range of comments was almost like dissecting the rapper's recent album, T.I. vs. TIP, on which his commercially viable persona wages war with his street-loyal, do-or-die self. There was an obvious split between fans who have taken up the cry to "Free T.I.P." and those who are fed up with rappers such as T.I. (Clifford Harris Jr.) for making ill-fated decisions that often send their careers, and their lives, into a downward spiral (see Tupac).
While supporters acknowledge T.I.'s wrongdoing, if the alleged charges are true that the two-time felon used his bodyguard to purchase unregistered firearms, many echoed the sentiments of the ongoing "stop snitching" campaign popularized by rappers.
"Be careful of the people you let in your circle," said morning show host Frank Ski on V-103, while expressing his personal hurt over the incident. He then played a portion of an in-studio interview he conducted with T.I. that was coincidentally taped July 3, 2007 — the same month, Ski noted, that T.I.'s bodyguard/cooperating witness first started working with the rapper — in which T.I. states that the only people allowed in his circle are people he's known for years:
I'm a loyal cat. I mean, if you notice, everybody who's around me has been around me. Everybody. You know what I'm saying. You ain't seen me with no new faces since I'm Serious. Doug, C-Rod, K.P., Big Kuntry, Mac Boney, J. Geter ... Hannah — all these same people been around every since I'm Serious — from security down. That's just in me 'cause you don't find good people all the time. It's hard to find good people. It's hard to find genuine people who got your best interest at heart and who [are] gonna do right by you regardless of ... the money.
"This dude who turned on him ain't been around," said Frank. "He ain't been part of his crew; he ain't been around."
The affidavit, filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office, reveals the time line of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigation that began Oct. 2, 2007, when the ATF was contacted with a tip about T.I.'s bodyguard attempting to purchase unregistered machine guns. Apparently, the bodyguard/witness earned T.I.'s trust by purchasing firearms for him on previous occasions. Eventually, T.I. allowed the witness into his home, where the witness saw shotguns in a walk-in safe of a bedroom closet. You can read the affidavit in its entirety here: complaintaffidavit.pdf
While callers pondered aloud why any rapper would need so many guns, Frank pointed to the perilous lifestyle that tends to follow those boys from the 'hood who escape by rapping about the 'hood. He then reminded listeners about the shooting death of T.I.'s friend Philant Johnson, which took place after a show in Cincinnati last year when unknown assailants fired shots into the car occupied by T.I. and his entourage.
"That's deep," co-host Wanda Smith said in response to T.I.'s earlier V-103 interview. "That's deep."
Her sentiment is echoed by those within hip-hop who feel that the arrest of T.I. — even if legally warranted — further proves that rappers are targeted by conspiratorial hip-hop cops. A MySpace comment posted on T.I.'s fan page today said it best: "Da FedS was REALLY TakiN PiCturEs!" The line is a double entendre reference to "Feds Takin' Pictures," a recent song released by T.I.'s touring DJ and Grand Hustle label signee DJ Drama. (You can listen to the song, featuring T.I., by clicking here.)
Another fan took the long view, commenting:
YOU GOT TO GO THROUGH THIS SHIT SO, YOU CAN HAVE SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT YAA KNOW, GOD ALLOWS THINGS TO HAPPEN FOR A REASON.
The next step in T.I.'s legal drama was scheduled to take place in front of a magistrate judge at Atlanta's federal courthouse today at 3 p.m. Meanwhile, American Gangster, the Denzel Washington-starring film in which T.I. co-stars, is scheduled to hit screens Nov. 2.
Comments (2)
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this post is full of emotion for me...as a T.I. fan, I have been rooting and hoping for him to make significant changes within his lifestyle and to make wiser decisions...on one of his songs on the "i'm serious" cd, he says "now that i made it rapping, i ain neva going back"...it makes me wonder if he truly tried to dismiss his former lifestyle and couldnt escape it or is there really some internal turmoil between "t.i. vs t.i.p" i wont pass judgment on the brother though, i wish him the best and hope that he comes out on top and in the midst of his triumph, make an assessment of his life and the choices he makes and the company he keeps. and to whomever the fan is that made that comment on his myspace page, sure GOD does allow us to experience things..but you dont HAVE to go through certain situations over and over again...we make mistakes, learn from them and grow up!
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