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T.I. Answers Criticism About His Criminal Record

“People who know my circumstances and where I came from, are applauding me.”

Having recently been released from his second prison sentence in as many years, T.I. has been criticized by some, fans and well-wishers among them, for making careless decisions. But the Grammy-winning rapper says he's only human, and that people should be more patient with him given the way he grew up.
"I've been rippin' and runnin' and doing what I've been doing since I was 12, 13, 14 years-old okay?" he said in a radio interview with Funkmaster Flex. "I'd say I [first] got in trouble when I was 27 years-old. That's 13 years when I was doing what I was doing. So since I was 27--I'm 31 now--that's four years. So you mean to tell me that I can develop all these habits over the course of 13 years, and you want me to kick [those habits] before four years? All of them? Ya'll gon' have to work with me."
"You might say, 'I don't see why he did that again'…It might not have took that long for you because you did not begin in the place where I began. Your circumstances were not my circumstances...People who know my circumstances and where I came from, they are applauding me. Standing ovations."
T.I. was cleared for release in September after serving 11 months in jail for a probation violation. He recently released the new single "I'm Flexin'" produced by Big K.R.I.T, and is working on his 8th album.

 

(Photo: Adrian Sidney/PictureGroup)

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