Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Harris is credited as one the pioneers of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgia-based rappers Jeezy and Gucci Mane.

The following year, Harris guest appeared alongside Lil Wayne on Destiny's Child's hit single "Soldier", and capitalized on this with the release of his third album, Urban Legend (2004).

Earning gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for 500,000 in first-week sales, it also spawned two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles: "Whatever You Like" and "Live Your Life" (featuring Rihanna); the latter replaced the former atop the chart, and made Harris the first rapper to do so while occupying its top two positions.

Harris guest appeared alongside Pharrell Williams on Robin Thicke's 2013 single "Blurred Lines", which peaked atop the Billboard Hot 100, and did so in 22 other countries.

The following year, his contract with Atlantic expired; he signed with Columbia Records and enlisted Williams as executive producer for his ninth studio album, Paperwork (2014).

The following year, he worked further with album collaborator and then-upcoming hometown native Young Thug to form the short-lived hip hop collective, Bankroll Mafia.

The album features guest appearances from his Southern hip hop group P$C, Jazze Pha, Too Short, Bone Crusher, Lil Jon, Pastor Troy and YoungBloodZ, as well as Pharrell Williams of American record production team The Neptunes, who called him "the Jay-Z of the South".

teamed up with his Pimp $quad Click (P$C) cohorts, Big Kuntry King, Mac Boney, C-Rod and AK, to release P$C's debut studio album, 25 to Life.

[38] The fourth single "Dead and Gone", featuring Justin Timberlake, peaked at number two for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100, eventually going on to be nominated during the 52nd Grammy Awards for both "Best Rap/Sung Collaboration" and "Best Rap Song".

made his first public appearance since prison, stepping out with then fiancée Tameka "Tiny" Cottle in support of her Alzheimer's research fundraiser "For the Love of Our Fathers" at Atlanta's Opera venue.

made appearances on The Howard Stern Show and The View to promote his new novel, Power & Beauty: A Love Story of Life on the Streets and discuss other issues involving his time in prison.

appeared on several remixes including; "Spend It" by 2 Chainz, "Sleazy" by Kesha, "Niggas in Paris" with Jay-Z and Kanye West, "Hard White (Up in the Club)" by Yelawolf also featuring Slaughterhouse, "Ima Boss" by Meek Mill alongside a freestyle over Drake's "Headlines", and Lil Wayne's "She Will".

[68][69] He served as executive producer for Azalea's debut extended play, Glory (2012), and guest appeared on its lead single "Murda Bizness", which premiered March 26, 2012.

was featured on the annual BET Hip Hop Awards cypher, alongside his Grand Hustle artists Iggy Azalea, B.o.B, Chip and Trae tha Truth.

has drawn up the details, which include "3 albums, 10–20 percent of publishing, touring, merchandise, film and TV rights, corporate endorsement deals, as well as exclusive signing of all Grand Hustle artists".

The EP "will be aimed at supporting the #BlackLivesMatter movement, and will speak explicitly about the twisted road race relations took in America to arrive at its current precarious state.

released the first single for Us or Else, a song titled "We Will Not", in response to the turmoil caused by the injustices going on in America, namely police brutality following the deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling.

ATL, which was written by Tina Gordon Chism and Antwone Fisher, was produced by Timothy M. Bourne, Tionne Watkins and Will Smith, and was directed by Christopher Robinson.

The film, directed by John Luessenhop, was produced by William Packer, Michael Ealy, Tom Lassally, Jason Geter, Gary Gilbert and T.I.

Set in Atlanta, this reality competition series features 16 men and women competing in various challenges for the coveted position, with a six-figure salary, within Tip's multimillion-dollar company, which he built from the ground up.

worked with troubled youths at Paulding Detention Center in Atlanta, provided scholarships for single parent families at Boys and Girls Clubs, and headlined the Boost Mobile Rockcorps concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall, which featured such performers as Fat Joe, Slim Thug, and Kanye West, and was held exclusively for community service volunteers.

visited a number of middle-grade and high schools in Georgia, where he speaks with the students in an assembly, holding a positive message, while maintaining a philanthropic view about morals and growing up in the same areas as himself.

[194] In June 2005, The Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes Foundation, named for the deceased member of multi-platinum female group TLC, and Atlanta's V-103, honored T.I.

announced he joined subscription-based music streaming service TIDAL, as an artist-owner, making him the 19th of his kind, and in company with artists such as J. Cole, Beyoncé, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Daft Punk, Madonna and of course, Jay Z.

received backlash when he was speaking on 2016 presidential candidate Hillary Clinton: "Not to be sexist but, I can't vote for the leader of the free world to be a woman.

[247] By March 2021, more than 30 women and at least one man accused Harris, his wife Tiny, and their associates of "forced drugging, kidnapping, rape, and intimidation" in at least two states, including California and Georgia, which allegedly occurred since at least 2005.

[256] In 2006, after appearing in an Atlanta court on May 10 and having charges that he threatened a man outside a strip club the previous year dropped for lack of evidence, Harris was arrested on an outstanding probation violation warrant from Florida.

The warrant claimed that Harris did not fulfill the required number of community service hours he was sentenced to complete for a 2003 battery of a female sheriff deputy at University Mall in Tampa.

The arrest was made in the parking lot of a downtown shopping center, which a witness identified as the Walgreens drug store at the corner of North and Piedmont Avenues.

being sentenced on October 15, 2010, to 11 months in prison for violating the terms of his probation, specifically for possessing ecstasy, testing positive for opiates and associating with a convicted felon, namely his P$C cohort C-Rod.