Friday, October 16, 2009

Making Money Behind Bars

I never used to be a fan of rap/hip hop music, but the past few years I've grown fond of a very select few rap and hip hop artists. Included in that list is T.I. who I got into after hearing his sixth album, Paper Trail, which was released last year.

This album was written while T.I., whose real name is Clifford Joseph Harris, Jr., was on house arrest following an arrest for federal weapons charges in the fall of 2007. During the year under house arrest, waiting to hear his then undefined prison sentence, he wrote one of the my favorite albums of all time.

In March of this year, T.I. was sentenced for his charges, one year and one day in prison, which he began serving in Forrest City, Arkansas on May 26, 2009. Last month I was surprised to see a new single from T.I. on the I-Tunes charts (which I peruse regularly to keep up-to-date with new releases). Isn't he suppose to be in prison? How is it possible that he recorded a new song with Mary J. Blige? Was this written and recorded prior to him entering the Federal Correctional Facility?

Fast Forward to current time. Another single has been released by the 'King', Hell of a Life. How is it possible that someone serving time for a federal crime is still able to work and make a dime (how's that for a little freestyle, haha)? The average criminal behind bars isn't allowed to continue working whatever career they may have had before being committed, why does America allow T.I. to continue recording music?

Obviously I'm not familiar with the 'system' in America, and also don't know when and where these songs were recorded, it was just a question that came to mind.

Today's lesson for the kiddies out there: Don't buy illegal weapons and don't expect to make money if you get arrested for it, life doesn't work that way!

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