T.I. recently expressed his admiration for Pharrell, a multidimensional record producer, by describing the extent to which he went in order to complete his debut album, I’m Serious.
On Monday (January 23), Tip revealed to Shannon Sharpe on his Club Shay Shay podcast that while he “appreciates and respects” the incredible producers he’s worked with, including as Dr. Dre and Swizz Beatz, Pharrell was the first big-name producer to give him a significant financial break.
“Pharrell was the first superstar, A-list producer, who would say, ‘You know what? I like this guy, I’m going to work with him. I’m going to give him access to my skill set, my talents, and my efforts.’ He did that on my first album,” T.I. revealed, adding that he reached out to Pharrell first.
“But at the same time he said ‘yes,’ he was getting $100k a track and I couldn’t afford to pay that,” T.I. continued. “So he had to kinda like, in the sense of sports, he had to take a pay cut so we could play together. And, he was gracious enough to do that; time and time and time again. Until, we grew.”
When asked if Pharrell truly made $100k per tune, T.I. said sarcastically, “That’s what he was receiving. possibly more He’s getting blank checks at this point, the speaker continued.
