User:Matthew Gerrard History

Matthew Joseph Gerrard (born May 30th 1980), better known as T.I, is a British rapper, singer, producer, dancer, choreographer, actor and entrepreneur who made his major label debut "The Debut LP" which won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album.

The 1997 follow-up album "Without Me" became the fastest selling solo album of all time and it's lead single from the album, the title track, saw MTV lift their self-imposed ban on his videos which had been in place since his debut single. His third album "Encore" was released in 1999 and earned him the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, becoming the first artist in history to have three consecutive albums win the award.

In 2000, his fourth studio album "Plan B" was released to the UK only, selling 600,000 copies there and in 2001 he released his first compilation album "Curtain Call: The Hits"

In 2000, he became exhausted and decided to release a UK only album, "Plan B", which managed to sell 5 million copies there. In 2001, he released a greatest hits album, "Curtain Call: The Hits" just five years after his debut. The album was a worldwide success, and had the "Plan B" album included on a second disk exclusive to the US. After this album and tour, he decided he wanted to try to create a pop/R&B album. This album became "Justified" and was released in 2003. It was his first album to not top the US Billboard 200 chart. After this, he went on a four year musical hiatus.

He returned with his fifth rap album (sixth overall) in 2008, with his hit album "Relapse". In 2009, he released "Relapse: The Refil", a re-issue of the 2008 album. He will release his new album "Paper Trail" is Mid-2010.

T.I is the best-selling artist of the decade, and has sold more than 80 million albums worldwide to date, making him one of the best-selling music artists in the world. T.I was ranked 82nd on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All-Time. He was also named the Best Rapper Ever by Vibe magazine. T.I has achieved six #1 albums on the Billboard Top 200. In December 2009, T.I was named the Artist of the Decade by Billboard Magazine. His albums The Debut LP, Without Me, and Encore (in order) ranked as the 3rd, 7th, and 40th best album of the 1990-1999 decade by Billboard Magazine. According to Billboard, T.I has two of his albums among the top five highest selling albums of the 2000s.

Personal Life
Matthew grew up in Whiston, Merseyside. He has two brothers, elder brother Paul Gerrard and twin brother, Liverpool FC captain and England International team player Steven Gerrard.

Gerrard has three children, Hayley Jade Gerrard (born July 1st 1993, 16), Danielle Gerrard (born August 31st 2000, 9) and Joseph Gerrard (born April 11th 2006, 3). Matthew dated Hayley and Danielle's mother, Kimberley Scott, between January 1992 and July 2000. They reunited less than a year later. The reunion was featured in his 2001 song "When I'm Gone".

Legal Trouble
In 1997, Kimberley's mother Debbie Scott sued Gerrard for £2 million, due to allegations he made about her on his first album. She was awarded just £1000 in damages in May 1997. His 1997 UK #1 single featured the line "I just settled all my lawsuits, fuck you Debbie".

Debbie sued him again in 2007, but this time the £5 million case was dropped by Debbie before it reached court.

Children In Songs
Gerrard's first daughter Hayley features in many of his songs including "'97 Bonnie & Clyde", "Hailie's Song", "My Dad's Gone Crazy", "Mockingbird", "Forgot About Dre", "Cleanin' Out My Closet", "When I'm Gone", "Deja vu", and "Beautiful". When asked why he only spoke about Hayley in the tracks, he said "Hayley went through hell, having two 13 year old parents that didn't really get along. Danni and Joe have both had settled lives and I rap about Hayley in "Mockingbird" because that song is about what Hayley had to go through growing up. There is no other reason at all."

Discography
Studio Albums
 * 1996: The Debut LP
 * 1997: Without Me
 * 1999: Encore
 * 2000: Plan B
 * 2003: Justified
 * 2008: Relapse
 * 2009: Relapse: The Refil
 * 2010: Paper Trail

Compilation Albums
 * 2001: Curtain Call: The Hits

EP's
 * 1993: T.I
 * 1994: T.I.P
 * 1995: T.I v T.I.P

Number One Singles
''The following singles reached number one in the United States, Australia, Ireland or the United Kingdom. For a full singles discography, see Matthew Gerrard Discography.''