T.I. covers Billboard magazine this month and talked about the celebrity friends who gave him their support during the time of his incarceration. T.I. says Will Smith in fact tried to get him out of prison by contacting President Obama.
“Of course, Em[inem]. He was extremely supportive and inspirational during that time,” Tip said. “Busta Rhymes,Puffy, Lyor Cohen, Russell Simmons, Nelly, David Banner, Charlie Mack, Will Smith. Will actually went as far as getting in touch with [attorney general] Eric Holder and the Obama administration trying to see if we could get some kind of release. He was very politely told that was not possible [laughs].
Tip also talks about how his jail time affected his endorsements and whether or not people still want him to be the face of their products.
“Now as far as people calling to make me the face of their brand, there has been nothing that I have taken seriously as of yet. People have inquired about building brands around my face and about building brand-new brands from scratch more so than associating me to an existing brand, with the exception of the Atlanta Hawks. We've had this very, very positive working relationship with the Atlanta Hawks for quite some time, and just recently they called me to broadcast two quarters of the Hawks game when they played the Miami Heat for Fox Sports South, and I had fun. They would like to further the relationship and see how we could do more together.”
His next album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is The Head will be released Dec. 18.
T.I.'s latest song, featuring Andre 3000, "Sorry."
