The King’s Speech: A Deeper Look At Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head [PHOTOS]

On Dec. 3, Clifford “T.I.” Harris Jr. took over Hyde nightclub in Hollywood, Calif. to preview his eighth album Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head for fans, friends, and industry tastemakers alike.

Introducing each track from his own laptop, T.I. told the story behind almost every record, but there was something different about his demeanor.

A project he’s described as holding “diversity and a lot of passion,” that night, The Kang remained perched in V.I.P. and even though he may not have said (or noticed) it, the stark contrast in his position just a year ago was remarkable.

In its bones, Tip’s story is nothing new. In Hip-Hop rappers wear criminal charges and jail bids like a badge of honor, but the 32-year-old’s version held a couple more detours than your average rap tale. In 2007, he was arrested on his way to the BET Hip Hop awards, with enough ammunition to start a turf war. Facing a decade behind bars peers stood at his side, and when he was handed a 366-day jail sentence, a collective sigh of relief permeated through the industry.

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Photo: Complex

“He knows his direction, he knows he’s definitely not going back” – Tameka “Tiny” Harris

Was he wrong for carrying so many weapons when he was a convicted felon? Yes. But even better is that Tip knew the error of his ways heightened by the death of his best friend Philant “Big Phil” Jackson, and he let those emotions spill all over Paper Trail, his highly anticipated pre-prison record.

The candor, lyrical appeal, and maybe just a hint of fear, rang through the 17-track work, book ended by the Justin Timberlake assisted single “Dead and Gone,” dedicated to the loss of Jackson. The quality of work that he left us with reaffirmed the hope that his legal troubles wouldn’t hurt his art.

A year came and went and he was back home, ready to get back to work, as the public eagerly awaited the musical magic he must’ve been cooking up while behind bars, Tip got to work on his next album, King Uncaged, later changed to No Mercy. What was taking form was his answer to the confinement of doing a prison sentence, any humiliation that he may have felt from such a misstep, and above all else : good music. Trap music. Tip’s music.

Unfortunately, things didn’t unfold as we all thought they would.

By September of 2010, the father of six was back in trouble, and subsequently put behind bars for violating his probation. Regardless of the sentence, No Mercy was released on Dec. 7. In comparison to Paper Trail the enthusiasm wasn’t as great, but the album still surpassed 1 million copies.

Getting out of prison for the second time in two years, T.I. approached this release differently. Rather than only going to the studio, he got busy in all facets of media and opportunity. He dipped his foot back into the acting pool, wrote two novels, signed Iggy Azalea, and premiered a reality show on VH1. “T.I. is one of the last few remaining Hip-Hop superstars,” says Jayson Rodriguez, former executive editor at XXL magazine, and co-host of the BQE podcast. “[He’s] That true superstar that can command the attention of a whole mass of people.”

Rodriguez attended the New York installment of the Atlanta native’s listening session, and like in L.A. T.I. let his present work, rather than his past mistakes, blaze the trail. “T.I. is still one of those people, even if he doesn’t have a reality show, he has a huge social media following, he’s acting, he’s kind of a multi-media person. He hasn’t quite alienated anybody to where even if his album isn’t a blockbuster, it’s a wrap for him.”

No matter his other career moves, the music played a big role in his takeover. He was popping up on records here and there, dabbled with his F**k A Mixtape release, and most importantly, sounded refreshed and ready to do damage. By July, “Go Get It” the first single off Trouble Man was released, followed by “Ball” featuring Lil Wayne. “I think with his last record [No Mercy], it was clear that project was rushed,” Rodriguez continues. “The last record he was working on it and he got arrested. It changed. At the very end he was tryting to capture the tone of where he was at. I think it made for an up and down overall album. With Trouble Man, he’s back in form. He clearly still has it, he’s clearly still talented as a lyricist, he’s just running into a new challenge with himself. ”

That challenge may very well be delivering a quality project. Not that he had ever been replaced in his position of reign, but by nature, he likes to test himself. “It’s just a different time period,” notes Lamar “Mars” Edwards. The Grammy-winning producer and musician of 1500 or Nothin’ has known and worked with T.I. for several years, and while Edwards acknowledges that the jail time changed his headspace, the major difference between his last album compared to Trouble Man lies in the storyline. “I felt like he had more to say [in recording Trouble Man], and more freedom to say what he wanted to say. I think this album is a little more fresh and new.”

“T.I. is one of the last few remaining Hip-Hop superstars.”-Jayson Rodriguez

Early reception of Troubleman has been favorable, praise of which is understandable given the production list–which includes DJ Toomp, Pharrell Williams, No I.D., 1500 or Nothin’, and Rico Love, among others– and the guest list (Meek Mill, Pink, Cee Lo Green, A$AP Rocky, Andre 3000, and more) this album was designed to send a message. “I think that he is just really determined,” shares wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris. “Mentally he was just real focussed on doing some of the best work that he’s really ever done. He did like 170 songs! I kept telling him ‘How [are] you gonna be able to narrow it down?’ He [was] determined to make it so hard for him to be able to pick and choose [the final tracklisting]…and he did.

“He’s always been a hard worker but he has the mindset of not failing, and it shows in his music. He’s always trying to out-do himself. He has that ‘I can’t lose’ mentality and that makes him get better and better. He lost a lot of time within those years and he feels the need to regain what he lost and make this album— makes everything that he’s done— now count. He knows his direction, he knows he’s definitely not going back [to prison] and he knows what he gotta do to stay on the path that he’s on.”

“T.I. like[s] that real sh-t,” adds Meek Mill. The Philly MMG representative teams with Tip on the Cardiak-produced, “G Season.” When asked by Rap-Up to name his Top 5 releases of the year, T.I. pointed to Meek’s Dreams & Nightmares debut. “We come from real places and the things I’m rapping about, he probably can seriously relate to.”

A heavy press push, from ABC’s The View to hitting every rap and entertainment site in between, Tip has been feverish in spreading the word of his new release, and the difference in talking about legal problems versus the album is like night and day. When you see T.I. in interviews he’s happier. He smiles more, and seems to utterly enjoy himself.

And so it makes sense that on that night at his Los Angeles listening session, he boasted an unapologetic celebratory stance. “He inspires me because he never quits,” says Tiny. “If it’s something that he really believes in, he’s going to go to the end for it and that makes me wanna do more. That’s motivation for me.”