T.I. Sets Out to Become "American Gangster"

When Rick Ross dropped his monstrous jam, "Hustlin," he probably had Grand Hustle CEO T.I. in mind. The Atlanta forerunner has been tapped to feature alongside Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in the movie, "American Gangster." The man friends call Tip is also in the process of developing a movie to be released through his own Grand Hustle Films, while currently working on a new album tentatively titled T.I. vs. T.I.P. You would recall that T.I. made his film debut in the box office smash, "ATL," which was released around the same time as his latest album, King. His grind paid off when King became one of this year's best-selling rap albums, having moved 500,000 units in its first week.

T.I. recently talked to Billboard.com about his role in the upcoming "American Gangster."

"Right now I'm learning everything I can about my character. I'm just there to soak things up," T.I. tells Billboard.com. "There's a bunch of Academy Award-winners on this cast and I'm just there to learn. I'm in school." The rapper is also working on a script for the first movie from his company, Grand Hustle Films. "It's coming along quite nicely," he says. "It's gonna be a comedy and it's gonna be funny as hell."

It's the typical hip-hop storyline. Rapper becomes successful. Rapper expands his hustle by crossing over to the big screen. More often than not, rapper fumbles in a bid to become a movie star. In T.I.'s case, a happy ending is eminent.

More T.I.

• T.I.: May 2006 Artist of the Month
• One Dead, Three Injured in T.I. Shootout