I'm Serious

I'm Serious is the debut studio album by American rapper T.I., released on October 9, 2001 by Arista Records and Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. It remains his only release with the former label. The album included guest appearances from Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes (who called T.I. "the Jay-Z of the South"), Jazze Pha, Too Short, Bone Crusher, Lil Jon, Mac Boney, Pastor Troy, P$C and YoungBloodZ, while production was handled by DJ Toomp, Craig Love, Maseo, Brian Kidd, The Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Yung D, Lil Jon and T.I. himself. I'm Serious underperformed commercially, only peaking at number 98 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and selling an estimated 14,000 U.S. copies in its first week. Critical responses were mixed; many reviews pointed to the fact that many of the tracks sounded the same, and a few were blatant rip-offs. Other critics commented saying, "T.I. claims to be the king of the South, but fails to show and prove. He does, however, have potential. If his talent ever matches his confidence, he may just be headed for stardom." The album has since sold 200,000 copies.