T.I.

T.I. began rapping at the age of nine. He was raised by his grandparents as his father suffered from Alzheimer's and later died from the disease. He dealt drugs as a teenager and had already been arrested several times before the age of 14. He dropped out of high school but scored a record deal before he was 21.

T.I.'s rap name used to be "Tip" but he changed it out of respect for one of his idols. After signing with Arista Records subsidiary LaFace Records in 2001, "Tip" took on the name T.I. because he didn't want to be confused with label mate Q-Tip, who he admired.

In 2009, T.I. appeared on the TV show Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List. In the episode, the rapper took Griffin to Roscoe's House of Chicken and Waffles in Los Angeles. He also taught the comedienne how to "swagger."