For his most recent trip to The Breakfast Club, T.I. brought along some company. His Hustle Gang crew, which consists of Tokyo Jetz, Translee, Young Dro and Trae tha Truth, accompanied him as he discussed a variety of things with Charlamagne tha God and Angela Yee, including trapping and rapping with Young Dro in high school; discovering Translee and Tokyo Jetz, who he called a “the Southern Eve”; and Trae tha Truth’s relief efforts in Texas in the wake of the devastation caused by Hurricane Harvey. He also spoke on the importance of giving back, rappers rapping about selling and using drugs and mentoring younger artists.

T.I. on bringing attention to issues affecting the community: “I think that’s what we need. We need more of that in our community, regardless of which generation it comes from. I think that our generation, mine’s and Trae’s, we have the easiest ability to relate to the younger generation and to appeal to the older generation, so we’re right there smack there in the middle of it. And we got to use our voices and our influence.”

T.I. on rapping about selling drugs vs. rapping about using drugs: “They both exist. And like I said numerous times before, this culture, this music, this art form originated from us speaking about the conditions of the environment. All we are doing is speaking about the conditions of the environment. If you don’t want nobody to rap about using drugs then the environment cannot consist of people using drugs. As long as that exists in the environment, it will exist in the music.”

T.I. on how he mentors younger artists: “I ain’t gonna tell you how to do it. It’s their future. Far be it for me to drive them down their journey. I’m just going to give them the perspective. I’m going to give them facts. I’m going to let them know the possible outcomes.”

T.I. on what made him want to work with Tokyo Jetz: “From the highest of the highest to the lowest of the lowest, women are such diverse and multifaceted creatures. Feeling sexy one day and be into Maya Angelou the next day, so you want to have something that’ll service all of those moods, feelings, and opinions they have.”

Check out T.I. and Hustle Gang’s full interview with The Breakfast Club above.