T.I. Talks To Larry King About Jail

May 17th, 2010

Matth

Last night, on his nightly talk show, Larry King questioned recently-released rapper T.I. regarding the circumstances that led up to the 29-year-old MC’s arrest.

In case you have been living in a hole for the past few years, T.I. was arrested in 2007 for trying to illegally purchase a machine gun, which was to be added to an arsenal of weapons so long King joked he could “run out of time” listing them all. The rapper, who penned the club-thumping classic “Live Your Life,” did his best to explain to King exactly how he was livin’ his life pre-arrest.

As he has mentioned before in several interviews, following the 2006 murder of his close friend Philant Johnson, T.I. said he went into a deep depression ignited by severe paranoia and fear. “(Johnson’s death) kind of caused a state of depression, paranoia, and my judgment was jaded,” T.I. said. “I just felt my life was in danger.”

Due to previous convictions, T.I. knew he was forbidden to own any weapons, however his friend’s death, and Atlanta-area home invasions, caused the multi-platinum rapper to stockpile the collection of weapons that would eventually land him in prison.

“At the time when I felt the need to have all these things, I never took into consideration the legalities; I only took into consideration the protection of my life and my family’s life and my home. Now, I am not in any way trying to excuse my behavior, because it’s unacceptable. I do realize right now that was very, very, very poor judgment on my behalf. I am in the best of my abilities trying to explain where my mind was at the time. I was concerned, extremely.”

King Uncaged is still expected to hit stores August 17.