T.I. Announces Plans To Retire After Jingle Ball 2024 Performance

T.I. is a certified legend. His run in the 2000s is one of the best put together by a Southern rapper. If he retired a decade ago, he would still go down as a GOAT candidate to many. And it seems like the notion of packing up is finally sounding good to T.I. based on his recent radio appearance. The rapper went on 96.1 to discuss his future, and he announced that he will no longer be putting on concerts for fans. In a surprisingly sincere display, T.I. stated that Jingle Ball 2024 will mark the last time he steps foot on stage.

T.I.’s announcement was prefaced by him wiping his eyes. “I appreciate y’all,” he told the 96.1 hosts. “Offering me my last working gig. I do not need the money anymore and I will not be performing.” The hosts were taken aback by the rapper’s stance, and proceeded to ask additional questions. The man born Clifford Harris was steadfast in his plan. “I don’t wanna do it anymore,” he asserted. “I don’t want people to pay me to hop around and sweat for they entertainment anymore.” T.I.’s last performance will take place at State Farm Arena on December 19. The rapper is slated to perform on a Jingle Ball lineup that includes T-Pain, Sexyy Red, Tinashae and Khalid.

T.I.’s decision to step back from performing should not be too much of a surprise for fans. The rapper has been teasing his retirement for a while. He told Baller Alert that he planned to drop two albums to mark his retirement back in 2023. “My last album is Kill the King, which will be, you know, it’s gon’ be edgy, energetic,” he explained. “So I’ma end up doing two albums. One will be Kiss the King, and the other will be Kill the King.” It’s taken a while for these albums to come together, and we’ve yet to get release dates for either, but T.I. seems serious.

T.I. alluded to the other reason he won’t be performing live during the 96.1 interview. He told the hosts he didn’t have to anymore, and he wasn’t kidding. T.I. and his wife recently won a $71 million lawsuit against MGA Entertainment. The couple alleged that the company had violated the intellectual property of a girl group they’d previously launched, OMG Girlz, and MGA was forced to pay up. “I mean, wow,” T.I.P. told Rolling Stone after the ruling. “They did more than I thought they would. They blessed us more than beyond.”