NEW YORK, NY. (Top40 Charts/ Atlantic Records) - Grand Hustle/Atlantic recording artist T.I. is this week's big chart winner, as his eagerly anticipated new album, "T.I. vs T.I.P.," makes a triumphant No 1 debut on the Billboard 200 album chart. With Nielsen SoundScan first-week sales of 468,000 copies, "T.I. vs T.I.P." scores as the biggest urban music premiere of the year, ranking second only to Linkin Park's "
Minutes To Midnight" as the biggest debut thus far in '07. "T.I. vs T.I.P" also debuts at No 1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, and No 1 on the SoundScan Rap Albums and
Digital Albums charts.
"T.I. vs T.I.P." marks T.I.'s second consecutive No 1 debut on the Billboard 200, following last year's breakthrough smash, "KING." Spurred by the success of "T.I. vs T.I.P.," Atlantic ranks as the No 1 label in the music industry this week, according to SoundScan, garnering 12.38% of the current marketshare, nearly double that of the No 2-ranked label.
The No 1 success of "T.I. vs T.I.P." follows his win as Best Hip-Hop Artist at the "BET Awards 2007," held June 26th at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles - where T.I. performed his current top ten smash single, "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)." Coming up, T.I. will be a presenter at the ESPN's "2007 ESPY Awards," airing this Sunday, July 15th.
T.I. will personally herald the album's release by headlining the upcoming "Screamfest '07," slated to kick off August 3rd in New Orleans. The extravaganza - which will also feature Ciara, T-Pain, Yung Joc, and others - is scheduled to hit cities across the country, with stops including Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Detroit, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.
The companion video for "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" is currently in Big Ten rotation at MTV, Heavy rotation on BET, Elite 8 on MTV2, Magna at mtvU, and Blazin' on MTV Jams. For the week leading up to its release, "T.I. vs T.I.P." was heard on MTV's "The Leak" album listening event - becoming the biggest leak of the year. T.I. is currently ranked No 1 on MySpace.com's "Top Artists" chart, with over 1.8 million friends, and his is the most-subscribed channel on YouTube.
T.I. is launching the first ever MMS collect-to-win mobile social community with T.I. Trading Cards. This mobile offering will allow consumers to purchase, collect, trade, and redeem unique mobile images for cash and prizes. Fans can subscribe to be collectors by texting "TI" to the short code 87233 (TRADE), or register online at https://cards.trapmuzik.com. Finally, July 3rd saw the long-awaited re-launch of the high-octane mobile game, "T.I. Street Racing," available via AT&T Mobility, Verizon Wireless, and T-Mobile.
T.I.'s "Big Things Poppin' (Do It)" is featured throughout July on ESPN SportsCenter's "Who's Now" series, in which fans and ESPN.com users will help determine the ultimate sports star by considering both on-field success and off-field buzz.
T.I. will follow his big-screen acting debut in last year's "ATL" by co-starring in what is undoubtedly among 2007's most anticipated new films, "American Gangster." Due November 2nd, the Ridley Scott-directed crime drama will see T.I. sharing the screen with Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. A slate of further projects - via T.I.'s own Grand Hustle Films - will be announced in the coming weeks.
