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Rapper T.I. graces the cover of Rap-Up magazine's December/January issue, along with Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, and touches on a little bit of everything.
Although he's currently on house arrest for federal weapons charges, the rapper said he's had a lot of good people giving him advice before it happened. One in particular was Suge Knight.
"Suge's the O.G., man. He keeps me out of trouble, believe it or not; he talks me down," T.I. told Rap-Up in their cover story. "Sometimes I be wildin' out, then [Suge says], 'Man, you got too much going on, you can't do that. It ain't like the old days.' He'll tell me, but I respect everybody. Jay tell me the same thing, Puff tell me the same thing, Kevin Liles -- everybody trying. Wyclef is another one. People, I guess, just care."
Aside from trying to stay out of trouble, T.I. also spoke about the future, specifically his relationship with former Xscape member Tiny.
"We talked about [getting married]," the rapper said. "But we also talked about wanting it to be our event instead of it being everyone else's event. So we just keep it to ourselves whatever we do.
As far as kids, T.I. says he wants to have as many as possible, despite having troubles in that area in the past.
"After [Tiny gave birth to a stillborn baby], it's difficult to think about it, to put yourself in that mind state, to take that chance again. But yeah, sure, I'll have as many kids as I can," he explained.
As far as retiring from the rap game, it might happen one day, but not anytime soon.
"I would love to, man," T.I. said of thoughts of retirement, "but I don't feel comfortable leaving it how it is right now. I got to have somebody to assume my position. I got to introduce them to the game to exceed my success."
The rest of the interview can be read in the new Rap-Up issue on newsstands now.
The other cover story is with Nicole Scherzinger where she speaks about going solo, her admiration for Beyoncé and Gwen Stefani, getting up close and personal with T.I., being a nerd in college, and dealing with the paparazzi.
The issue also includes interviews with Mary J. Blige, Wyclef Jean, Cassidy, and Wu-Tang Clan along with the winners from the 1st Annual Rap-Up Awards.
For more information, visit Rap-Up.com
