T.I. ready to reclaim his crowns

The singer/actor/songwriter/entrepreneur has come back in a big way with a novel, “Power & Beauty: A Love Story of Life on the Street,” a VH1 realty series “T.I and Tiny: The Family Hustle,” and a soon-to-be-released album, “Trouble Man.”

“It’s great to be turned up like that,” said T.I. last week during a call to Hot 107.9 FM in Atlanta. ” ‘Trouble Man’ is coming in September, and that is no little thing. … I got 125 songs right now I’m sitting on. You can always count on me to deliver. I don’t know if I got what they need right now, but I’m gonna give them what they need next.”

Although T.I. has often lamented his various troubles with the law, he also noted that if he didn’t have those tussles, his records likely wouldn’t sell as well. If early reports are any indication, “Trouble Man,” which includes guest spots by B.o.B., Cee Lo Green, Andre 3000 and R. Kelly, will be a knockout in sales.

“That’s one thing about Atlanta,” T.I. told accessAtlanta. “In this community of artists, you frequent the same restaurants, clubs. Most of [us] went to the same schools. It’s more personal. It’s not just about the music and I don’t just see them at awards shows. We might catch each other coming out of JR Crickets. There’s a sense that we know each other.”

And the man who started his acting career with a role in “American Gangster” is also continuing that side of his craft too. He’s slated to be in several episodes of the Starz series “Boss” with Kelsey Grammer.

“I play Trey. He’s the former young leader of a section of a gang in the projects looking to work his way up the ranks in the world of politics. He pushes some buttons of his own,” T.I. said.

That is a role that won’t be completely foreign to T.I., who last year told Howard Stern that he ran a small crew while he was in prison.

“It’s rewarding in a different way,” he said of acting versus music. “It’s completely different from music.”