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posted by The Sickest Kid at 4:39 PM

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  • T.I. shows kids error of his way with 'T.I.'s Road to Redemption'

    Grammy-winning rapper T.I., born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr., is facing up to 30 years in jail for weapons charges.

    But the 28-year-old father of six is hopeful this dark period in his life won't ultimately define who he is.

    To that effect, Harris is currently filming a show with MTV entitled "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go," which chronicles his efforts to reach out to teenagers who are headed down the wrong path.

    "Right now, there's nothing else you can say about my charges or my circumstance that hasn't already been said, so to keep wasting time on that, it's not worthy and is not significant," Harris told the Daily News. "Impacting the lives of at-risk youths in America and inspiring change? That is. People remember you for the last thing you did. If the last thing that I do isn't negative, you won't have a negative perception of my life."

    "T.I.'s Road to Redemption" is not part of Harris' federally mandated 1,000 hours of community service (if Harris completes all 1,000 hours without any other legal infractions, he may only go away for one year - at the time of this interview, he had completed 910 hours).

    Rather, it's something he is doing because it's important to him that others learn from his mistakes.

    "If you check my résumé, you'll see I was doing this prior to my last arrest," Harris said. "Some people have a passion for finding the cure for cancer. For me, it's impacting at-risk youths and letting them know that you can turn your life around, no matter where you come from."

    In the first episode, Harris surprises an Atlanta teen named Pee Wee who hustles on the streets to help his mother pay her bills. To scare him straight, Harris not only locks Pee Wee up in a local jail for a day, he also takes him to a morgue to show him where he could end up.

    "What I do with each kid depends on their situation. With Pee Wee, we did what we felt would impact his judgment, what would inspire him and what would motivate him to change," said Harris. "As the season goes on, you'll see that each of the individuals I work with has their own set of issues to deal with and we have to find ways to approach those issues in a way that will have a significant impact."

    For viewers who are not familiar with Harris or his run-in with the law, "Road to Redemption" goes into great detail about his charges and why he was caught with three unregistered machine guns and two silencers. The show will also film through Harris' sentencing in March.

    "I may have been significantly impacted by certain circumstances, but ultimately, my decisions were my own," said Harris. "As a man, you have to accept responsibility and pay the consequences for the poor decisions you make just as much as you accept praise and take credit for the good decisions that you make."

    http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2009/02/09/2009-02-09_ti_shows_kids_error_of_his_way_with_tis_.html

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    posted by The Sickest Kid at 4:38 PM

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  • Kanye West, T.I. React To Chris Brown's Arrest
    Chris Brown and Rihanna's families, friends and fans aren't the only ones upset by the alleged altercation between the two. The information has rocked the music industry. As details have begun to emerge about the incident, their peers have reacted.

    "I was completely devastated by the concept of what I heard," Kanye West told Ryan Seacrest Tuesday morning (February 10) during a radio interview. West said he was so upset by the news that even affected him during his performance of "American Boy" at the Grammy Awards on Sunday.

    "I was completey devastated during the performance," he said. "All I will say is it's so devastating. I feel like, just as a person, I don't care how famous she is, or even if she worked at McDonald's, that should have never happened. It should have never come to that place."

    West said he saw both performers at Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party on Saturday night, and that he is on closer terms with Rihanna.

    "I know Rihanna a bit better because I went on tour with her and we vibed out on a lot of creative ideas with the touring," he said. "I gave her all these references of Grace Jones and [photographer] Jean-Paul Goude, back in the '80s when pop stars took it to a whole 'nother level. I felt and feel like Rihanna is so important to our culture, to pop music. I feel that she is the most important artist in music and has the most potential. For her taste level at her age and the songs she does and her style. She has the potential to be the greatest artist of all time. In that sense, I feel like she's my baby sis, and I would do any and everything to help her in any situation."

    Monday night on "Last Call With Carson Daly," T.I. said he has spoken with Brown since the incident happened.

    "I spoke to him today," Tip said. "He's cool, you know. He's a little concerned about the situation, but he's still the same Chris."

    Tip said despite conversing with Brown, he still didn't know what had happened, but he offered advice to the singer.

    "I told him, 'This too shall pass.' We're celebrities, we're entertainers, but we're still human — all of us," he said. "Don't expect us not to make mistakes, because we will."

    Following his appearance on "Last Call," T.I. released a statement to MTV News expressing regret for his comments on the incident. "After careful consideration, I realized I made the mistake of commenting before understanding the situation," the statement read. "I myself am no stranger to media scrutiny. My only intention was to support both Rihanna and Chris during these times. My heart goes out to both of them.

    Someone who is all too familiar with having a domestic dispute plastered across the headlines is Lionel Richie, whose ugly confrontations with his now-ex-wife Brenda ultimately resulted in her arrest in 1988. Richie advised both Brown and Rihanna to not run away from what happened.

    "You'll go through adversity," he offered. "You're gonna have it. You're gonna have difficulty. Stand up, face it. Look right in the camera, say, 'Yes, I did it,' then back out of it. Keep going. That's all you can do. Because now, there's no more secrets. You can't hide anything anymore.

    "You can't get away now," he continued, analyzing how much the media has changed over the past two decades. "It took a minute ... when you could practice your integrity thing, you could practice your mistakes, before the world even heard about it. Now, whatever mistake you make, it's out there. It's a different kind of vibe. I wouldn't want to deal with it right now, not learning the business and life at the same time with that thing [camera] pointing at you every five minutes. All I can say is it's here, it's now, deal with it."

    Ashanti, whose critically acclaimed song "Rain on Me" dealt with domestic violence, said "I definitely wish them the best. There's a lot of things that's alleged. Nobody knows what going on. They're young. I hope everything's all right for the both of them."

    http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604754/20090210/west_kanye.jhtml

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    posted by The Sickest Kid at 4:37 PM

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  • T.I., Kanye West, Jay-Z And Lil Wayne Bring 'Swagga' To Grammys

    M.I.A. is a G! Let's never question her standing in hip-hop. She was due to have a baby on Sunday (February 8), and she got onstage at the Grammys, belly and all, and performed in a sheer outfit. The singer more than hung with the big dawgs — Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I. and Lil Wayne — during their performance of "Swagga Like Us."

    Queen Latifah introduced the group as the "Rap Pack," and the whole house stood up as all five were revealed for their historic performance. T.I. had a different name for the collective when we talked to him on the red carpet: "The Swagg Pack."

    All fresh, all in black tuxedos, all with distinctive swag, the gang came together for their first-ever performance.

    M.I.A. kicked off the set, which was modeled after a 1950s performance in the main showroom of Las Vegas' Sands Hotel. She sang a little of "Paper Planes," ending with the vocal that's sampled for the "Swagga" song: "No one on the corner has swagga like us."

    The big band was dressed in white, while the pack all wore black. Kanye started off with his well-known opening: "Mr. West is in the building. Swagga on a hundred, thousand ... "

    "Trillion!" they all yelled in unison.

    All the guys and M.I.A. were in close proximity hyping 'Ye up. Jay-Z was second, and as he gloated about people jockin' his fresh, the ensemble pretended to wipe him down. Obviously, there wasn't a stain on the pristinely dressed crew.

    Wayne wore his rocker hat and placed it on M.I.A.'s head when he began to rhyme. The crew strolled like they were on the runway, following Wayne to the front of the stage as he began to rhyme.

    T.I. took off his tux jacket when his verse came up. With his bow tie unwound, Tip closed the record.

    "You can go see Weezy for the wordplay, Jeezy for the bird play," Tip rapped with Wayne sitting on the steps bobbing and the rest of the crew in tow. "Kanyeezy for diversity and me for controversy/ All my verses picture-perfect, only spittin' certain purpose/ If you ain't living what you kickin' then you worthless."

    After the last note, the crowd gave everyone a standing ovation. Maybe they should take that show on the road ...

    Will Lil Wayne grab all the gramophones? Is Katy Perry going to tell her girl rivals to kiss off? Can Coldplay march off with a win? MTV News is all over the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, so stay tuned for interviews, analysis and more before, during and after the big night.

    http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604568/20090208/mia__4_.jhtml

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    posted by The Sickest Kid at 4:37 PM

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  • T.I. story becomes TV show TV

    T.I., the rapper, has won Grammy Awards, sold millions of records, and at this moment is enjoying the biggest commercial success of his six-CD career.

    T.I., the actor, has starred alongside Oscar winner Denzel Washington (in “American Gangster”), signed his Atlanta-based company Grand Hustle to a three-picture deal with Screen Gems and is regarded enough in Hollywood that Will Smith invited him over to his estate for an intimate election night party in November.

    But there’s also T.I. the convicted felon, who after pleading guilty to weapon charges in March agreed to do 1,000 hours of community service before an expected sentencing next month of one year and a day in prison.

    Part of that service will play out today on “T.I.’s Road To Redemption: 45 Days To Go,” where MTV viewers will meet T.I., the engaging reality show star.

    And here’s what viewers are likely to be talking about afterward:

    T.I. the machine gun purchaser: Why would someone seemingly at the top of his career, with a hit movie and a hit album, make a stop at a Walgreen’s parking lot to buy guns and silencers while on his way to a music awards show where he was the leading nominee?

    The 28-year-old Atlantan looks directly into the camera and explains: “I didn’t want history to repeat itself.” His assistant and best friend, Philant Johnson, was killed in a 2006 shooting on I-75 near Cincinnati. “The one time I needed [a weapon] is when I didn’t have one,” he says.

    T.I. the family man: Clifford “T.I.” Harris has always been reticent to give fans a glimpse of his personal life —- until now. Here, you see him with his newborn Major and his second-youngest son King the morning of his birthday party.

    T.I. the counselor: Part of the series includes T.I. helping seven at-risk teens. On the first episode it’s Pee Wee, a self-described “hustler.” In comes T.I. to show him where the “hustler” life will lead. He takes Pee Wee to a Powder Springs jail and Haugabrooks Funeral Home. While Pee Wee had to know nothing would happen to him behind bars with the cameras rolling, his desperation does sound real when the cell door closes on him. Then T.I. helps Pee Wee try a new career pursuit —- acting. Surely you’ve never heard Romeo and Juliet like this.

    http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2009/02/10/timtv0210.html

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    posted by The Sickest Kid at 4:32 AM

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