Tip is one of the most intelligent and articulate thinkers in the game. Recently, he’s been on his socially conscious tip, no pun, promoting his politically charged new EP, Us or Else. He’s made his way through Ebro In The Morning, Power 106 LA, First Take, and the BET Hip-Hop Awards, as well as chastising Floyd Mayweather on Instagram for saying “All Lives Matter”.
However, socio-political commentary is nothing new for Tip. While the Atlanta MC has moreso defined by his numerous smash hits (recently “About The Money” and “No Mediocre”) and somewhat marginalized by the stigma of southern rap, his political side has been present throughout his career.
Today, we commemorate Tip’s 10 most socially conscious records before his “Us or Else” EP.
Anderson .Paak Come Down (feat. T.I.)
Anderson .Paak - "Come Down" (Feat. T.I.)
This is not a T.I. record, nor is it a song centered on social injustice. However, Tip flips the drug references in the song to commentate on Donald Trump, police brutality, the hypocrisy of the constitutional right to protest, and manipulative news reporting.
“I fantasize shooting Trump down / A shot for every black man who got gunned down / By the police with no convictions so they run ‘round / When we protest they tell us pipe down / For Trayvon and Mike Brown / CNN wanna make it black/white / Cause we hit the action with a black light”
You Ain't Missin' Nothing
“You Ain’t Missin’ Nothing”
“You Ain’t Missin’ Nothing” is a reflective track on T.I.’s most successful radio album, “Paper Trail”. Paper Trail was released when T.I. was awaiting his imminent prison sentence in 2008. You Ain’t Missin’ Nothing serves as inspiration and guidance for those who find themselves in T.I.’s shoes.
Tip advices future inmates to strategize for their release because the punitive prison-industrial complex is designed to be a closed circuit that sweeps you back in once you’re out.
“My Uncle did a decade / came home, hit the ground runnin’ getting paid / like he never did a day”
“If you ain’t got a plan / what you need with a second chance? / Shit, you gon’ blow it”
Wildside (feat. A$AP Rocky)
“Wildside”
“Wildside” finds T.I. describing the violence inherent in Bankhead – Atlanta’s most dangerous neighborhood.
Tip articulates that poverty and lack of employment opportunities forces people to sell drugs. Drug dealing and monetary scarcity naturally leads to violence, and an absence of compassionate policing and root cause analysis protects the vicious cycle.
“Come take a little walk with me through my neighborhood and come spend a day in my trap / Get your paper right and that yay some good but just keep a tool in your lap / My lil patna holding that work, nigga want weight then keep around back / Better not violate on my turf, nigga you’s in danger to die like that / Ain’t no investigation, no statements, and no witnesses”
Be Better Than Me
“Be Better Than Me”
“Be Better Than Me” is a standout record on debatably a classic album, Trap Muzik.
This song finds T.I. channeling his better-self and inner Jay-Z with lines like “The streets ain’t the place to be / I’m tellin’ you cause its too late for me” that are reminiscent of Hov’s “Like I told you to sell drugs; no, Hov did that / so hopefully you won’t have to go through that.”
Tip progresses through the song commentating on the inequities existent in the hood, and why poverty and self-worth should be mutually exclusive. Generational poverty seems to be a tool the government uses to indoctrinate an inferiority complex in urban neighborhoods; however, Tip insinuates there’s pride and power in wherever you’re from.
“Neva be ashamed of how ya live or where ya from”
No More Talk
“No More Talk”
“No More Talk” finds Tip calling out unauthentic trap rappers while simultaneously documenting his observations from the street. Throughout the record Tip describes the various ways you can die in the trap, while alluding to the fact that the government is fuelling these atrocities.
Many point to the fact that the War on Drugs was announced when 2% of American’s believed drugs were the most important issue facing our country and 3 years before the crack epidemic exploded as a blatant sign of the government manipulatively oppressing black communities.
Sadly, many racial justice activists advocate for the Politic of Responsibility and believe people in the trap need to stop falsely blaming the system and take personal responsibility. Tip disagrees.
“We’re in denial, meanwhile they’re flicking the buttons”
Prayin' For Help
“Prayin’ For Help”
T.I.’s second album Urban Legend was a step back from Trap Muzik, but “Prayin’ For Help” captures Tip’s introspectiveness and social awareness. Tip states that he did not delve into the drug game without a conscious, and that it was a mistake provoked by the temptations of desperation.
Tip articulates his frustration with the inconsiderate antagonization by apathetic outsiders, and prays our society evolves to emphasize compassionate rehabilitation instead of psychologically damaging confinement.
“Take another approach / Instead of testifyin’ against them in court / Handcuffin’ ‘em and closin’ the door / So they worse then before”
Hallelujah
“Hallelujah”
Tip has overcome an enormity of legal adversities in his career. In “Hallelujah,” Tip expresses his gratitude for surviving all he’s endured.
Throughout the record Tip reflects on the physiological effect solidarity confinement had on him, as well as how some of his personal relationships are forever severed. Mass incarceration fragments and weakens many black communities, but Tip is thankful God strengthened him throughout his tumultuous journey.
“I went to jail, stood tall, then fell again / It seems like I’m Jonah and right back in that whale again / I felt the panic when they locked me in that cell again / I had to pray and meditate, control my breath again”
“How Life Changed” (feat. Mitchelle’l and Scarface)
“How Life Changed” is a soulful and powerful record from T.I.’s most lackluster album, No Mercy.
How Life Changed finds Tip and Scarface reminiscing on their old lifestyle to illustrate how far they’ve come. Tip articulates people in the trap become so desensitized to prison and death that those old fears no longer act as deterrents. These normalizations lead to many youth de-valuing their life, something Tip can attest to. Now, Tip proactively devotes his efforts to empowering the trap and erasing that mentality – how life changed.
“We figure prison it just come with the life / along with losin’ your life”
Doin' My Job
“Doin’ My Job”
In “Doin’ My Job,” Kanye chopped the perfect soul sample for T.I. to tap into his social consciousness (I miss the old Kanye).
Tip raps about his frustrations with the media’s portrayal of African Americans. Many news outlets seem to only harp on ‘the what’ and not ‘the why’. These one sided narratives use killings and drug dealings to perpetuate negative stereotypes of violent black men, but don't delve into why these men feel forced into this dangerous but lucrative job.
"I'm tired of people misrepresenting my domain / Oh, you think we're our here killing for nothing, hustling for no gain?"
New National Anthem (feat. Skylar Grey)
“New National Anthem”
“New National Anthem” is easily Tip’s most powerful and poignant socially conscious record. Tip wrote this candid critique of America after the killing of Trayvon Martin.
The record starts with Tip saying, “I know radio prolly ain’t gonna play this”. Apparently, Pharrell, the executive producer of this album, Paperwork, advised Tip to make New National Anthem the lead single. However, Tip decided to value radio play over social impact, so he chose “About The Money” and “No Mediocre” as the lead singles, which buried this potent song in a fairly neglected album.
After Tip’s intro, the record transitions into Skylar Grey’s chilling hook. The hook commentates on the irony of America being “the land of the free” despite white men possessing the (apparent) freedom to murder black men without legal repercussions. Skyler then questions which side of the American dichotomy defines America.
Tip then takes the record by storm by commentating on the racially charged criminal justice system, and the fallacious and hypocritical American values we’re taught in school.
Overall, this goose bump provoking record exemplifies why Tip is one of the most under appreciated lyricists in the game, and why he is a voice the hip-hop community should amplify, trust, and follow.
“Let me ask you something. If the kids are the future, tell me why you can get more for being a C.O than you can for being a teacher? Tell me why it means more to the government to pay the people who got to watch over the prisoners more than the people who got to keep the children from becoming prisoners? That make sense?”
