T.I. Speaks Out on Mass Incarceration & War on Drugs

Hot off the release of his politically-charged EP Us or Else, T.I. gets even more political for Vevo’s “Why I Vote” campaign.

In the clip, Tip explains that he votes in order “to change the injustices and to fix the inequality that exists in America today.” But he does so, after explaining how the crack epidemic and the war on drugs impacted impoverished communities through harsher penalties.

“The lower level drug offenders got the most time,” he explains. “[That] broke up families, removed fathers from raising sons. It just destroyed communities. This is how mass incarceration started.”

Diving further into the prison system, T.I. also bashes what he calls “incentivized incarceration.”

“Private investors buying prisons for their own profits should not be legal,” he says. “I think those jobs should go back to the American people. I don’t believe that’s constitutional. I don’t think it’s fair.”

The war on drugs and mass incarceration are among the many topics T.I. discusses on Us or Else. “The war on drugs was just a war on us,” he rhymes on “Warzone.” “Give us all these guns, give us all this dust / Change all them laws / Lock all of us up.”

Tip is not the only one speaking out. As part of Vevo’s “Why I Vote” campaign, Vic Mensa also shared his thoughts on police brutality including the tragic death of one of his best friends, 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.