T.I. Says Drake Mentioning Pusha-T's Fiancée 'Opened the Lines Up'

T.I. had quite a bit to say about Drake and King Push's feud, as well as his assessment of what the hell Kanye West was thinking during the lead-up to 'Ye.'

T.I. had a lot to say about Pusha-T, Drake, and his "Ye vs. the People" collaborator Kanye West in a recent interview.

Speaking at length with Billboard Monday in promotion of his BET series Grand Hustle and the upcoming Ant-Man sequel, T.I. said he would have thought King Push went too far with his "Story of Adidon" diss had it not been for Drake's previous mention of Virginia Williams. "When Drake mentioned his fiancée, you kind of opened the lines up," Tip said. "It's whatever now. 'OK, you mentioned my fiancée, all right, cool. Now I have to mention some shit to bother you the way it bothered me. You don't have a fiancée. I'm going to have to dig deep into this. I'm going to have to unpack this.' Take what they call a deep dive."

As for the songwriting debate that has emerged at multiple points in Drake's career, T.I. affirmed his belief that only artists with self-penned lyrics can properly lay claim to any "best rapper alive" title. "You may be the best artist, or the best entertainer, but the best rapper alive must write his own lyrics," he said.

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But T.I. actually had more to say—much more—about West and his pre-Ye campaign of unexplained Trumpism embraces. Though T.I.'s comments should of course be read in full for a proper breakdown on his assessment that West "hadn't considered" that donning a MAGA hat would "hurt" many in his audience, this particular bit is worth out pointing out on its own:

[Kanye is] being welcomed by these fascist Republicans. Now, I can imagine why. I don't know if he sees it that way. He might see it as the support he always should have gotten from this community. It's like, 'These motherfuckers see that I'm the shit. They know my potential. They see what I can do. They want me on their side.' That's my interpretation from being around it as long as I have.

T.I. also discussed his thoughts on Ye, his favorite film and TV roles thus far, and J. Prince's legacy. Read the full thing here.

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