It may not necessarily go down as a night to remember, but it was a night, nonetheless. A pre-sentence send-off of sorts, T.I.’s Fête to the Future, held last Friday, May 15 on Miami’s super-exclusive Star Island, was a surprisingly subdued affair—more sponsored walk-through than Pimp Squad Clique throwdown. When T.I. finally showed, at around 11:45 p.m., with fiancée Tameka “Tiny” Cottle, and members of his Grand Hustle family, including rappers Young Dro and Big Kuntry, his appearance was brief, lasting just over a half hour.
In keeping with the party’s all-white dress code, T.I. was clad in a crisp snow-white suit. He marked his time at the party with two quick turns on the mic. Before the first performance, T.I. shut down all requests for interviews and photo opportunities: “I don’t ask you to work on your day off,” he quipped. Tip performed again following a toast by Warner Music Group Executive Vice President Kevin Liles. While Liles asked God to watch over one of Warner’s biggest stars during his federal prison sentence of one year and a day slated to being later this month, he also encouraged the rapper to learn from his experiences and work to be a better man.
As guests raised plastic cups in his honor, T.I., stood in front of the DJ booth, which was set up behind the sprawling Spanish Renaissance-style home that provided the backdrop for the night’s festivities. He said simply: “By the time you notice I’m gone, I’ll be back. Forget about it. I ain’t trippin’—so you don’t. But for right now, I ain’t locked up tonight, so let’s get to it.”
Guests milled about under palm trees or by the pool while others lounged on day beds and sipped cocktails served by bikini-clad model/bartenders, as South Beach’s luminous skyline glittered across Biscayne Bay. But despite the elegant setting—the party never turned over. Shortly after T.I.’s remarks, organizers broke off the event rather than risk noise complaints from residents of the exclusive community, and the 250 or so guests made their way to the valet station to collect their rides.
In March 2008, T.I. pled guilty to two charges of illegally possessing firearms and another for being a felon in possession of a firearm, after he was caught in October 2007 attempting to collect three machine guns from a former bodyguard turned federal informant in an Atlanta parking lot. T.I. received a deferred jail sentence of a year and a day followed by three years of supervised release, plus 1,500 hours of community service (at least 1,000 of which were to be completed before his incarceration), a $100,000 fine, and a year of in-home confinement.
The day of the Fête to the Future party, TMZ.com reported that T.I. would serve out his sentence in a low-security Arkansas facility. But yesterday, rumors that T.I. would actually serve only two months of his prison sentence hit the Internet. Stay tuned to VIBE.com for more on this breaking story.
Secret Video From T.I.'s Farewell Party from Gyant on Vimeo.
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