Hip Hop

T.I. Likens New York Rappers To White Privilege, Says They “Can’t Never Deny It”

By
T.I.
T.I.

TIP says being a New York rapper is like white privilege.

T.I., the self proclaimed King of the South, is not too fond of all the privileges received by other rappers further upstate, specifically those from New York. Quality productions have been flowing from almost every hip hop hotspots across the country. However, it’s hard to deny the power of the South in the last decade and a half. Even though the talented rappers coming out of the region is too many to count, Southern acts such as Lil Wayne, Young Thug have all had tremendous runs at the upper echelons of popular music. This is a stark contrast to earlier decades when the majority of hip hop activities centered around the East and the West coast.

While speaking with Ebro and Peter Rosenberg on Hot 97’s Ebro In The Morning T.I., explains that to him, little has changed and Southern rappers are still not getting the love they deserve. We are not sure if the calling out of New York rapper 50 Cent to battle via Verzuz and the plethora of social media unrest between the two men that followed thereafter had anything to do with T.I.’s stance. One thing this is sure, he used a seriously sharp analogy to express just how divided he sees things.

T.I. and Tiny Harris

“In the universe of Hip Hop, New Yorkers have the same thing that white people have with white privilege.” The two interviewers/hosts were divided on the topic, with Rosenberg siding with the “No Mediocre” rapper meanwhile Ebro disagreed.

Tip continued, “New York the origin of Hip Hop, can’t never deny it. You got all the money, you got all the radio stations. Largest market in the world. All of the television stations. BET started out in DC, where’d they have to go. New York. MTV, TRL overlooks Time Square …”

In an attempt to deflect the claims made by T.I., Ebro said that New York has always looked out for Southern talents, such as their interviewee and even Outkast.

“You know how you sound,” asked TIP, before giving his shocking summary of the issue. “When white people tell black people, ‘we treat you alright. Police don’t go after you like that.'”

The debate between Ebro and TIP continued throughout the rest of the interview. T.I.’s obsession with battling 50 Cent now seems bigger than many were thinking. Instead of seeing it as one rapper against another, we could see it as Tip’s attempt at evening the score or closing the unfair gap he sees between the East and the South.