T.I. Runs Through "Rubber Band Man" and More Trap Classics for NPR Tiny Desk Concert

T.I. is the latest artist to be given the opportunity to NPR-ify selections from their catalog. "Rubber Band Man," "What You Know," and "Live Your Life" are backed here by artists in training from the Atlanta Music Project.

August 27, 2018

NPR's Tiny Desk Concert series has recently been on one hell of a roll. Following memorable sets from Erykah Badu and Mac Miller, the latest intimate challenge went to T.I., who gave a retrospective three-song performance.

"This music was about the elements that people have to endure in their lives every day and find a brighter side and make a way out of no way," T.I., whose Trap Muzik turned 15 earlier this month, said when addressing the audience after his "Rubber Band Man" run-through. "That's what this music represents."

During the set, backed by artists in training from the Atlanta Music Project non-profit, T.I. spoke freely about his decades-strong career and the perseverance of the trap genre. "We went in and did it our way," T.I. said. "['What You Know'] is not the quintessential single for an artist of my caliber at the time, but we stayed true to our roots once again and fell back on the essence of trap music."

T.I. also performed his 2008 Paper Trail single "Live Your Life," sans Rihanna. Catch the full performance up top.

Paperwork, which dropped back in 2014, marks the most recent full-length studio effort from T.I. However, he's recently been teasing a new project titled The Dime Trap. In an interview with Genius in July, T.I. explained the narrative relationship between Trap Muzik and Dime Trap. "I think that making it through that life, enduring and overcoming the pitfalls and consequences that come with that lifestyle while not compromising the morals, standards, and principles that I developed within the lifestyle, the perspective is much different, but the energy is the same," he said.