T.I. covers the August 2008 issue of XXL Magazine.  Inside the issue, T.I. addresses his federal gun charges and how his life has changed in the aftermath.  He also explains why he chose to seek weapons and also why he doesn’t blame anyone for the decisions he made that got him in that predicament.  In addition to the obvious questions about the gun charges & snitching, T.I. also told XXL that he feels that the beef between he and fellow Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo is all just a misunderstanding.  

T.I. on reading blogs (What up Tip! 😉 ) ~

 “I look.  I check ’em out.  I separate my feelings.  I can’t take it personal.  I look at it like that’s how they do everybody…”

On why felt he needed weapons in the first place ~

“Due to the past tragedies in my life, I felt an extra concern for my safety.  It distorted my vision.  It distorted my judgement.  I made decisions based off of that concern that I may not have normally made.” 

On Cooperation vs. Snitching ~ 

“That was not a part of my deal.  No way. You can read my whole plea agreement.  It’s public record.  If cooperation was a part of my deal and that was the reason they gave me less time, it would be in black and white.” 

On Shawty Lo and the “Bankhead Beef” ~ 

“I’ve actually gotten to the bottom of what all that is about. And, for real, I think dude was just mistaken, and he just went out there, and it wasn’t until he was already out there that he found out he was mistaken.  And so now you out there, you gotta go with it.  At the end of the day man, it’s really stupid.”  

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