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Ooow! Someone please pass me a fan–right now. My secret love affair in-my-mind, T.I. brings his swag and sexiness over to Rolling Out Magazine for their latest issue. He shares his thoughts on his time spent in prison and shares why he knows Tiny is the one for him (all those kids later, I hope so).

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On how prison affected him: 

When I went to prison in 2009, I had so much resentment for the system. When you’re in a certain element, you can exercise certain strengths. But when you place me in a jungle and it’s all about survival, I’m going to have to posture myself in a way I’m fit to survive. By the time I came out of prison, my mind-set was different from when I went in. Prison did me no good. But personally, I regressed completely.

On being in ‘the life’ and if it’s more respected:

That’s a misconception. I think white folks put that out there because they want us to feed off that. I grew up in Bankhead, been around Campbellton Road, Simpson Road, West End and every ghetto in Atlanta. And I never thought it was cooler to go to jail than to go to college. I knew college wasn’t for me, but I knew jail wasn’t for me, either. If you give me the option between jail and college, I’m taking college. They have women in college, ain’t no women in jail. I’ve never thought that. And no one I ever spoke to said, ”Man, something in me wants to see what it’s like to go to jail.” On the other hand, we knew that we were doing things that could land us in jail. But we never thought it was cool. That’s a misconception. If you’re a teenager, or whatever, don’t believe that going to jail is cool. I’ve been in there with people who are doing 20-year bids and life sentences. Those folks never feel like it was cool.

On when he knew Tiny was the ‘one’:


For me, it was early. I can’t say the exact day. Because even when you initially make the decision, you still wrestle with whether you made the right decision. Within the first two years, I made that initial decision. Then maybe another two years, I confirmed that decision. A few years later, I finalized that decision.

On how you can find the perfect man:

I hate to tell them something to do to get a man, and when they finally get that man they find out he’s not the man they should have gone after. But you have to really get to know the person you think you are in love with. Learn who they are. Spend time with them. Because a person can only perpetrate for a certain amount of time. And one thing to always remember, you never really know a person until you watch them when they don’t know they’re being watched. If there was a hidden camera in the room, I would be the same way I am when we’re together. How you see me, that’s how I am.

Read the entire interview on RollingOut.com

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