During a recent appearance on Billboard’s In Conversation, Grammy-winning rapper T.I. opened up about leaving Atlantic Records after a decade with the label. The move came in 2013, shortly after he released his eighth studio album, Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head.
According to T.I., curiosity about his success played a major role in the choice.
“One of the reasons why I made one of the toughest decisions, arguably one of the worst decisions in my career, I made the decision to leave Atlantic because I just got tired of wondering, ‘Was my success predicted on me or them?’” he said. “I had to know.”
The Atlanta rapper later signed with Columbia Records before eventually moving toward independence. Looking back, he says stepping away from the label made him realize how much support had been happening behind the scenes.
“I almost immediately could see there were a lot of things being done on my behalf that I was probably oblivious to,” he explained.
Still, T.I. says the experience helped him grow as a business owner and artist.
“I recorded the music, but when I handed it off to them, it turned into the success that we all knew,” he said.