T.I. has long been a proponent of Black investment, and he says losing
Nipsey Hussle, a fellow Black investor, was a big loss.
On Wednesday (May 22),
Roll Call reported that Tip went to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. along with media personality Charlamagne Tha God and members of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss how investors can bring more money to distressed areas known as “opportunity zones," which were established as a provision of the 2017 tax law signed by President Trump. During his speech, T.I. claims that Nipsey Hussle and a business associate are the ones who convinced him to speak with lawmakers and take advantage of the new provision.
"It was an incredible loss," Tip said about Nipsey. “We’re like the Avengers of investment."
In his speech, Tip compared the death of Nipsey to "losing Ironman," who in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was the first member of the Avengers, a group of superheroes who came together to fight against the bad guys.
After
spending big money at Nipsey's clothing store The Marathon, the Atlanta rapper also asserted that his purpose on the Hill is to help continue the late L.A. rapper's legacy—and essentially continue the Avengers initiative.
“Everybody knows that Nipsey was pretty much the founder of the idea to bring everyone together who, you know, may individually be able to do great things and make a significant impact on their own in their communities,” he said according to
The Hill. “But for us to come together, we can impact so, so many more communities and spread our efforts so much wider.”
The Grand Hustle CEO also spoke about closing the racial wealth gap, in which he claims the average white family owns 10 times the assets of the typical black family. This isn't the first time Tip has taken a stance in the world of politics and it won't be his last.
Back in March, Tip
called out the criminal justice system for giving prison time to a 12-year-old rapper over a woman who hanged a child and only got probation. He also
supported Cyntoia Brown through her publicized trial and even bailed out
23 nonviolent offenders from jail for Easter.