Grand Hustle Homie! Clifford “Tip” Harris and his protege’ B.o.B. aka Bobby Ray cover the August/September 2010 issues of Complex Magazine.
In the issue, T.I. once again mentions retirement, but this time instead of balking at the thought of being a 40 year old rapper, he’s got a master plan to phase out of the game:
I’m kickin’ 30 down this year, so it’s about time to start thinking about an exit strategy. I’m not saying this is my last album or the next album is my last album, but I don’t see myself rappin’ for 10 or 20 more years. Although I could. Let’s say I do it for five more years, and after that, when I do an album, it’ll be an event. It’s not going to be day in, day out. Maybe every two or three years, a world tour, the whole shebang. T.I.’s FULL COVER STORY
Perhaps he’s preparing to pass his crown on to Decatur bred B.o.B., who’s already making his mark on the charts worldwide!
There’s a lot of love overseas. I was playing a show at Kings College in the U.K., and they knew every word to every song. The album’s not even out over there yet.
I remember going to Norway and Germany years ago; the crowd would go crazy, and they didn’t even know who I was. In the States, you gotta kind of prove yourself, win the crowd over. That’s what I meant in terms of it being more about the music in [Europe]. ‘Cause here, you come onstage and [the crowd’s] like, “OK, who’s this guy signed to? Who does he roll with? Where’d he come from?” You know what I mean? Over there, it’s more like, “OK, what does the music sound like?” READ B.o.B.’s FULL COVER STORY