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''I'm Serious'' is the debut studio album by American rapper T.I., released on October 9, 2001 through Arista Records. The album spawned the eponymous single, which featured Jamaican reggae entertainer Beenie Man. His debut single, "I'm Serious," was released on June 26, 2001. The single received little airplay and failed to chart. Mack 10 & Big Gipp of Goodie Mob make cameo appearances in the music video. The album included guests appearances from Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes (who called him "the Jay-Z of the South"),〔(December 21, 2004). (Vibe Cover Story: T.I. – King of the South? ) ''Vibe''. Retrieved October 9, 2008.〕 Jazze Pha, Too Short, Bone Crusher, Lil Jon, Mac Boney, Pastor Troy, P$C and Youngbloodz. The album featured production from DJ Toomp, Craig Love, Maseo, Brian Kidd, The Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Yung D, Lil Jon and T.I. himself. Despite the album's guests appearances and production team, the album peaked at number 98 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and only sold 163,000 copies in the United States.〔 〕 Upon its release, critics pointed to the fact that many of the tracks sounded the same and that a few were blatant rip-offs.〔Jon Azpiri (2001-10-09). ("T.I. I'm Serious" ) Retrieved on June 21, 2009.〕 Other critics commented saying, "T.I. claims to be the king of the South, but fails to show and prove. He does, however, have potential. If his talent ever matches his confidence, he may just be headed for stardom."〔(" T.I. "I'm Serious" Album Review" ) Retrieved on June 21, 2009.〕 Due to the poor commercial reception of the album, T.I. asked for a joint venture deal with Arista Records or be released from his contract; he was subsequently dropped from the label. It is his lowest-selling album to date with only 268,000 copies sold. ==Background== T.I. was born Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. on September 25, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of the late Clifford "Buddy" Harris Sr. and Violeta Morgan. He was raised by his grandparents in Bankhead, Atlanta, Georgia. He lived in a family that existed in a constant struggle to survive. In an article for the America's Intelligence Wire, he described them as hustlers: "When I say hustle, I don't mean necessarily broke the law and sold drugs but, I mean that they didn't know where their next check was coming from. They had to get theirs day by day, and they got it, some more than others." His father lived in New York and he would often go up there to visit him. His father suffered from Alzheimer's and later died from the disease. T.I. was interested in rap music at the young age of seven, and found that he could entertain his relatives and feel included. T.I. began rapping at age nine. He was making demos of his music by age ten or eleven. But street life interfered, and by age 14 he was dealing drugs and had been arrested numerous times.〔 〕 He attended Douglass High School, but later dropped out. As a teenager, he was a drug dealer.〔Samantha Strong and Bill Hutchinson (May 12, 2009). ("Rapper T.I. and Al Sharpton march in Harlem to stop gun violence" ) ''Daily News (New York)'' Retrieved on 2009-06-21.〕 He was once known as Rubber Band Man, a reference to the custom of wearing rubber bands around the wrist to denote wealth in terms of drugs or money because they would be used for stacking thousands of dollars in a single rubber band.〔(【引用サイトリンク】work=MTV )〕 By age 14, he had been arrested several times.〔 He was nicknamed "Tip" after his paternal great-grandfather.〔(T.I.: Me, Myself & I ) ''Vibe''. Retrieved October 9, 2008.〕 Despite the troublesome upbringing, T.I. was still drawn to music. He got a manager and was heard in an audition by Kawan "KP" Prather, a record executive, better known in the music business as K.P., who was working on a spin-off of Arista Records called Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment discovered T.I.. After the audition, T.I. was quickly signed when he was a teenager. Upon signing with Arista Records a subsidiary of LaFace Records in 1999, he shortened his name to T.I. out of respect for label mate Q-Tip.〔Hillary Crosley (May 1, 2007). (It's Summer Time With T.I., 'T.I.P.' ) ''Billboard''. Retrieved October 9, 2008.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「I'm Serious」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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