T.I. Announces Final Album 'Kill The King,' Confirms Retiring

Hear ye, hear ye! T.I. is rready to take his final bow! After spending more than two decades giving hip hop classic records and putting Atlanta on his back, the retiring Rubber Band man says he’s officially stepping away from rap. Before he does, though, he’s leaving fans with one last gift, a farewell album titled Kill The King.

The Atlanta legend revealed that his upcoming album, Kill The King, will officially be his last, serving as both a farewell to fans and a thank you for a journey that exceeded his wildest dreams.

“I’ve gotten everything I prayed for from the game,” T.I. told PEOPLE magazine.

While the announcement may surprise some fans, Tip says this decision has been years in the making. The rapper also admittedto the publicaiton that he’s quietly been enjoying retirement since the pandemic, choosing family and peace over the nonstop grind of the music industry.

“So I had been living a retired life for some time, probably since the pandemic. I just kind of got used to being home and being around, and I just didn’t want to do so much, for lack of better words, work.”

Rather than disappearing without explanation, T.I. felt his supporters deserved a proper goodbye.

“I don’t think that I could just disappear all of a sudden and nobody know why I’ve never put nothing out [again]. So I think that to have a project and say, ‘Hey man, this is it. Thank you for all the love and support.’ I’ll catch y’all on the flip side.”

The album title itself carries an even deeper meaning.

Long before T.I. embraced the title of King of the South, he sought advice and blessings from Atlanta’s rap pioneers. One conversation with fellow Atlanta icon Big Boi stayed with him throughout his entire career.

“Big Boi said, ‘just understand you going to put a bullseye on your back. You going to put a bullseye on your back and ain’t nobody going to be looking to do no favors for you,'” he recalled to PEOPLE. “He said, ‘Chess is a game of life. The game of the game in chess is to kill the king.’ And at that moment, I knew that that would be the title of my last album.”

For T.I., walking away isn’t about giving up. It’s about recognizing when you’ve accomplished everything you set out to do.

Being able to retire while still young enough to truly enjoy the fruits of your labor is a blessing many artists never get to experience. Instead of chasing another chart-topping hit, the rapper is embracing the opportunity to spend more time with the people who matter most.

T.I. shares seven children with his Grammy Award-winning wife, Tiny Harris, including Zonnique, Messiah, Domani, Deyjah, King, Major, and Heiress. As his children have grown older and started families and careers of their own, those moments together have become even more meaningful.

“It’s always great when I get all the kids and everybody together at one time, because when they move out of the house, they have their own lives. They’re doing all their ripping and running.”

In the interview he noted that he’s ready to pass the torch to sons King and Domani, who are both following in his Hip-Hop footsteps.

“I still enjoy recording and performing but I think maybe because my sons and stuff are getting so much older and they entering into the business and it just feel like, man, I’ve gotten everything I prayed for, man, from the game.”

As the interview made its rounds, T.I. also took to Instagram to send a shoutout to his wife Tiny, delightedly declaring her the “apple of his eye.”

Whether you’ve been rocking with T.I. since I’m Serious or still have King and Paper Trail in rotation, Kill The King looks to be the Atlanta rapper’s way of saying thank you before closing the curtain on the rap game. And honestly, after decades of hit records, business moves, and raising a big family, Tip has earned the right to kick back and enjoy retirement on his own terms.