T.I. IS HAVING A ROUGH WEEK

Rapper T.I. is having a rough week. On Monday, May 8th, the rapper buried his close friend and personal assistant Philant Johnson who was murdered last week …

Rapper T.I. is having a rough week. On Monday, May 8th, the rapper buried his close friend and personal assistant Philant Johnson who was murdered last week in Cincinnati. On Wednesday, May 10th, the rapper was briefly jailed while making a court appearance in Atlanta, Georgia, because of an outstanding warrant from Florida. T.I. was in court because several men accused him of starting a fight on New Year’s Eve but a judge threw out that case. As the rapper was leaving the courthouse, he was alerted that a warrant had been issued for his arrest, he was detained then released on $25,000 bail and ordered to turn himself in to Hillsborough County authorities by Monday, May 15th.

The warrant was issued for the rapper because he failed to perform his community service in relation to a Florida conviction for battery on a law enforcement officer, trespassing and disorderly conduct. The charges stem from an incident in September of 2003 when law enforcement authorities at the University Mall asked T.I. and a group of friends to leave the mall because they were “talking very loud” and “causing a disturbance.” The rapper allegedly struck a police officer during the incident.

“Aside from Luke and OutKast, it ain’t never been no real mainstream artists, you know what I’m sayin’? No artists that went multi from the South, I mean not that I can remember?”

T.I. was sentenced to 18 months probation and 75 hours of community service in January but after he violated his probation by driving with a suspended license, he was hit with an additional 150 hours of community service. The rapper has canceled his Japanese tour to deal with his legal situation.

In related news, T.I.’s King has just surpassed the platinum mark and the rapper is hoping to become the next multi-platinum rapper from the South. He explained that there’s only been a few so far. He said,