It’s always wild to see hip-hop and EDM cross over but rarely does it result in an altercation, though. That’s exactly what happened when Drew Taggart of dance duo The Chainsmokers tried to kiss T.I. on the cheek, to which the rapper responded with a swing at the 32-year-old producer and singer. The Atlanta trap pioneer, who was recently honored with an Outstanding Georgia Citizen award for his community work, later clarified in a video that it was just an incident and that there’s no real beef with The Chainsmokers, even sharing some of the good times they had that night.
“Love The Chainsmokers, man, they make great music,” said T.I. He also laughed when mentioning that there’s not much more to the story other than Taggart’s account, which has been covered on social media and the blogosphere to great extent.
“He was like ‘Don’t do that’ and I was like ‘Okay.'” explained Taggart of the incident. “He punched me in the face and I was like ‘Okay, I’m sorry,’ and he was like, ‘Alright, cool, we’re good.’ It was the weirdest interaction ever… T.I. is fully in the right here. I was feeling the vibes way too hard, and I kissed T.I. on the cheek and he punched me in the face for it.”
As bizarre as the interaction was, T.I. wants to make it clear that it was a purely isolated incident.
“I think the most important thing to take away is afterward, we took a shot and we moved on, you know? Lovin’ the party, having a good time… like I said, love The Chainsmokers. Not to get no sugar, though, you know what I’m saying? Mm-mm, can’t play like that.”
The 41-year-old rapper said he’s “still a fan” of their music, a weird crossover but not an impossible one, given that T.I.’s distanced himself from the trap music mindset. He even invited the “Closer” duo on his podcast, ExpediTIously.
“As a matter of fact, I would love to have you guys. I was thinking about some guests to bring on ExpediTIously. I would love to have you guys on ExpediTIously if you can find the time to just sit down and chop it up. I’d love to kick it with you if y’all got some time on your hands. You know, let’s catch a vibe.”
And just like that, beef turns into a promo op. Who would’ve thought T.I., the Rubber Band Man himself, would get closer to The Chainsmokers?