to an end. He released his Columbia debut Paperwork, in October 2014. In February 2016, Harris signed a distribution deal with Roc Nation and another deal with Epic Records in September 2018. The former served as a means to release his political Us or Else EP series, while the latter released his long-delayed tenth album Dime Trap in October of that year. Harris has served two terms in county jail, twice for probation violations and a federal prison bid for a U.S. federal weapons charge. While serving 11 months in prison, he released his seventh studio album No Mercy (2010). Harris branched out into entrepreneurship with his label, Grand Hustle Records, which he co-founded in 2003 with longtime business partner Jason Geter. Prominent industry acts have been signed to T.I. through the label, including Travis Scott, B.o.B, and Iggy Azalea. Harris has also had a successful acting career, starring in the films ATL, Takers, Get Hard, Identity Thief, and in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Ant-Man and its sequel. He is also a published author of two novels, Power & Beauty (2011) and Trouble & Triumph (2012), both of which were released to moderate success. Harris has also starred in the American reality television series T.I.'s Road to Redemption, T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle, and The Grand Hustle. In 2009, Billboard ranked him as the 27th best artist of the 2000s decade. Early life Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. was born on September 25, 1980, in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Clifford "Buddy" Harris Sr. and Violeta Morgan. He was raised by his grandparents in Atlanta's Center Hill neighborhood just off Bankhead Highway. His father resided in New York City, and he would often go there to visit. Buddy suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died from the disease. Harris began rapping at age eight. He attended Douglass High School, but later dropped out. His stage name originally came from his childhood nickname "Tip", after his paternal great-grandfather. He was once known as Rubber Band Man, a reference to the custom of wearing rubber bands around the wrist to denote wealth in terms of drugs or money. Music career 1996–2000: Career beginnings In 1996, T.I. befriended local rapper Big Kuntry King, together they sold mixtapes out of the trunk of their car. Kawan "KP" Prather, a record executive, discovered T.I. and then signed him to his record label Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. Upon