5 Powerful Celebrities T.I. Admires

T.I. stars alongside some of Hollywood’s leading men in his new action flick Takers. But who does the King of the South look up to in his personal life and career? EBONY magazine shares five power players in music, Hollywood, and business who Tip admires for their talent, hustle, and swag.

Jay-Z: He done the rap shit to the best it could be done. He’s done it better than anyone who’s ever done it.

Master P: He came from the same ghetto and bullshit that I came from and turned himself into a corporate conglomerate.

Russell Simmons: I look up to Russ, because … he started this shit and he still here.

Will Smith: He got it right. Will transitioned from rapping to acting and did it at a stellar level of performance.

Diddy: He’s fly as I am; just as conceited, pompous, and arrogant as me, but he managed to maintain a humble sense of self. Puff got enough sense to know—even though he feels like he’s more the shit than anybody else—when they got something going on that [he] ain’t got. He knows when to take pages out of other people’s books.