T.I.出生于美国佐治亚州首府亚特兰大市，他的童年生活并不为人所知，但不难猜测初他的生活肯定不会是在很好的环境下度过的。T.I.最先被人们所了解是从2001年开始的。当年的6月26日，他的一首单曲《I'm Serious》由于和另一名说唱歌手Beenie Man合作，并且有金牌制作人the Neptunes担任制作，所以在比较广泛的范围内被歌迷们所知晓，在单曲发布之后不久他就与Arista唱片公司签约。
2001年10月9日，一张包含了18首歌曲的专辑《I'm Serious》正式发行。但是这是一张很普通的说唱专辑，并没有引起什么强烈的反应，专辑销量也失败了，至今，那张专辑只卖出了不到20万张。失败的专辑使他不得不推出了Arista唱片公司，他并没有灰心，为了自己的音乐事业不至于中断，他投奔了另一家唱片公司Atlantic。
2003年8月19日，T.I.的第二张个人专辑《Trap Muzik》发行。
T.I.这位你可说他是狂妄的嘻哈饶舌硬派份子，你也可以说他的音乐直接反映出黑帮街头种种乱象，更可以直接了当的说，在他心目中自己永远是NO.1，这也许让人听来多了份傲气，但也之所以如此，当T.I.立定自己音乐方向之时，他会作到最好，竭尽所能的达到尽善尽美的标准，这是他的态度，对音乐的期许跟努力！
想必黑人歌手与街头枪支、暴力、毒品等新闻扯上些关系，至今大概都已习以为常了吧？然而上述的状况，T.I.全部一手包办，逞凶斗狠的情节完全不输先前在娱乐新闻媒体中大肆宣染的五角先生，虽然行为举止如此嚣张叛逆，但酷在骨子里的却是对嘻哈饶舌音乐文化的推广与热衷！虽然这一路走来崎岖不平，但他锐利且富意境的创作才情，让T.I.仍获唱片公司的激赏，准备为他的音乐之途铺路。自诩『南岸饶舌乐之王』的呛声份子，在2001年於Arista旗下发行首张专辑「I'm Serious」，虽然表现平平，但更加自我磨练的T.I.，利用两年的时间在南岸饶舌界中追寻灵感，激发自我潜能极限，转入Atlantic体系推出第二张大作「Trap Muzik」，马上空降流行专辑榜第四名与节奏蓝调/饶舌榜亚军的位置，一举摘下白金唱片的亮眼佳绩，同时帮腔助阵於其他饶舌艺人专辑中之先发单曲，也都意气风发的在排行各榜中居高不下！虽然依旧是恶名昭彰，但T.I.仍要将他的自身经历与生活告白，藉由音乐抒发，毫不掩饰做作的让乐迷听到最真实的自我。第三张个人专辑「Urban Legend」，将延续南岸饶舌的霸气，阵容也不输前作令人精采可期！
Once dubbed "the Jay-Z of the South" by Pharrell Williams, T.I. gradually came into his own and established himself as one of rap's greatest and most successful MCs during the early 2000s. Like Jay-Z, T.I. — born Clifford Harris in Atlanta, GA — has always carried a balance of smoothness and toughness, and though 2001's I'm Serious (released on Arista) didn't shoot him out of the gate à la Reasonable Doubt, he consistently grew and began a string of major hits with 2003's "24's." From that point through 2007, there wasn't any point when T.I. couldn't be heard within a couple hours on any given urban radio station throughout the U.S. 2003's Trap Muzik, 2004's Urban Legend, 2006's King, and 2007's T.I. vs T.I.P. — all released through the MC's deal with Atlantic — were Top Ten albums, and King even spent some time at the very top of the chart. Released in tandem with his debut screen appearance in ATL, King affirmed his status as a superstar. Far more ink has been spent on his legal issues and a conflict with fellow Southerner Lil' Flip than his Katrina relief efforts and other humanitarian involvements. One notable event occurred on May 3, 2006, when T.I.'s crew was caught up in a shooting after a show in Cincinnati that left three injured and Philant Johnson — T.I.'s longtime friend and personal assistant — dead.
