T.I.'s new album fuelled by 'sense of urgency'

On his latest album Us or Else: Letter to the System, T.I. directly addresses social and racial injustices in the United States, from inequality to police brutality. It's a marked change in the hip-hop artist's more than 15-year career.

"I spent some time throughout my career maybe having one song on an album of just social issues and some people may have noticed it, some people may not, but I just didn't feel a sense of urgency from it," the Grammy Award-winning rapper says over the phone ahead of his many concert dates across Canada this month.

"I think that right now," he continues. "There's a lot more urgency needed. I think we need to address a lot of these things that are going on and it isn't just looked upon as normal and acceptable behaviour. This is the way that I've chosen to do it because I believe the people gave me a platform and put me in a position. And with that platform and position, you know, I think the most gracious and beneficial thing I can do for them is speak for those who don't have a voice to speak for themselves."

The Atlanta rapper uses this motivation to speak for the current state of his country, recently writing a letter to U.S. president Donald Trump in Rolling Stone, urging him to pay close attention to what the American people want. "Should it ever at times seem as though we are against you, I assure you it's a result of you defining yourself as the representative for those who are and who always have been against us," the rapper wrote.

Focusing on inequality and the marginalized members of society, T.I. continued, "All we've ever wanted was equality and empathy as the historically disenfranchized citizens that we are, in a nation that we've contributed to just as much as anyone else who calls America their home."

T.I.'s letter to Trump followed his open letter to Obama in the New York Times in early January, which complimented the outgoing U.S. president. "Rest assured that your legacy will live on long after your presidency," T.I wrote, adding that people will have to pick up on Obama's example.

T.I. plans to follow up his letters to Obama and Trump with a letter to America as a whole. While he says he has "valid reasons to be concerned" about the transition, he retains some hope for his country in the future.

"I think for any opposing sides to work towards a resolution, ... we have to be willing to hear each other out and move forward with some sense of empathy on both sides," he says. "That all starts with a conversation and not all parts of that conversation are going to be agreed upon, but it's alright. It's a necessary conversation."

— Del Cowie, q Digital Staff