T.I has been making career transitions ever since we first met him. Despite building his fortune in hip-hop, it has been his crossovers into acting, reality television, and entrepreneurship that have kept him in the spotlight. His latest foray into standup comedy. The market for standup comics is very lucrative for those who have found success in the medium. For example, Kevin Hart made $70 million on tour between 2017 and 2019 alone and just wrapped another massive co-headliner tour with Chris Rock.
T.I’s attempts to break into comedy have not been well received. After being asked to take the stage a few months ago at a comedy club owned by a business associate, T.I was blasted by comic Godfrey who was offended by his inclusion in the set. While Godfrey was scheduled to be the show’s headliner, T.I was actually brought out last. T.I explained that he was invited by the club owner and had no control over where he came out in the set, but Godfrey still called him out for trying to “take over” his lane. “As a headliner, no one is supposed to go up after you,” Godfrey said on his own podcast. Nick Cannon was eventually able to get Godfrey and T.I to patch things up. The night of the show T.I did not get the best response from the audience. They struggled to follow him as he joked about infidelity. His wife Tiny was there to support him, however, posting videos to social media to show off his set.
In April, T.I joined comic Michael Blackson for a show at the Barclays Center. While there, T.I tried out some new material that, unfortunately, was not received well. He joined Rip Micheals, Nick Cannon, Eddie Griffin, Bruce Bruce, and Michael Blackson for the April Fools Comedy Jam. While there, he made a joke based on the definition of the word “anonymity.” The joke fell completely flat, and people began to boo him. T.I tried to take it in stride and used the opportunity to plug his upcoming album, Kill the King. “You got one more MF album out of me; it’s called Kill the King for [Mfers] ike you. And I appreciate y’all because you made me the absolute best. New York has made me the motherfu**in’ best.”
T.I. and Michael Jackson unpacked what happened during an Instagram live. T.I. says the boos pushed him to try and be funnier and claims to have really enjoyed his set when asked by Blackson. “Yes! I loved it. I didn’t feel like they were booing me. I felt like they were booing me as ‘I dare you to be more funny, I dare you to overcome this. I dare you to do better.’ I feel like that’s what they challenged me to do, and I did it.”
Tip is taking it all in stride and says that he is doing this solely for fun and not seeking anyone’s approval. “I don’t care what they show, bruh, ’cause I ain’t seeking nobody’s validation,” he added. “I’m not here for nobody else’s approval. I don’t give a damn.”
