Hip Hop superstar T.I. recently inked a deal with MTV for an eight episode docu-series that will follow the hip hop star as he performs more than 1,000 hours of community service stemming from his recent legal woes. According to Variety, the untitled Ish Entertainment series, has scored an eight episode order from the network with shooting slated to begin this summer leading up to his return to jail in early 2009. T.I. — real name Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. — has had several brushes with the law, culminating in a high profile arrest in October of 2007 just hours before he was to be honored at the BET Hip-Hop Awards. The rapper, who had already been convicted for selling crack cocaine in the late 1990s, was charged with possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers and possession of firearms by a convicted felon. The Grammy winner, nicknamed “the King of the South” for his Atlanta-influenced rhymes, was facing more than four years in jail when he managed to secure the plea deal. The idea for the show was hatched around the same time. “We began the conversations in the middle of deliberations over what would happen to him,” said Ish’s Michael Hirschorn, who’s exec producing with partner Stella Stolper. “The original idea for the show had him staging a series of interventions in each episode with people in danger. But when we visited him under house arrest, it felt much bigger and more powerful than we anticipated.” The show features T.I. as he speaks to groups about his troubles. “Hopefully the mistakes I’ve made will be a lesson to today’s youth and they won’t go down that same path,” T.I. said. The show will also document the release of the rapper’s new album this summer, “Paper Trail,” much of which was inspired by his troubles over the past year, and the birth of his child. The untitled series is slated to air in early 2009.
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