T.I. WORKING ON A NEW LP WHILE IN A HALFWAY HOUSE!

Apparently T.I. — serving out the remainder of his year-and-one-day sentence on a gun possession charge in a halfway house — is back in the lab making music. In late December, former Warner Music Group executive Kevin Liles tweeted on his page @Kevinliles1, "My right hand went home to visit his family and found his way to the studio. He said 'why wait for 2010, get it now.' Love the attitude!"
On Thursday, during an interview with MTV News, Trey Songz was mentioning people he might collaborate with soon, and the popular singer hinted that he and the fiery leader of Grand Hustle may jump on a track together.

"Shout to the King back home, Tip," Songz said. "He played me some stuff. I stopped by to holla at him in the studio. He played me some amazing stuff."

On Tuesday, Tip's "Whatever You Like" producer, Jim Jonsin, elaborated on the King of the South's new musical endeavors. "It doesn't seem like he missed a beat," Jonsin told Rap-Up.com. "He was so upbeat, his spirits were up, and he's excited to be out and working. He hasn't changed, he sounded exactly like he did when I talked to him months before he went in.

"He's back in the studio," Jonsin added. "I sent him some music via e-mail. He can work during the week and not on the weekend, I believe. He's definitely working on an album for this year right now." T.I.'s representatives did not respond to requests for confirmation.

In May 2009, Tip started a 366-day jail term stemming from his October 2007 firearms possession arrest. For much of 2008 and early 2009, Tip performed more than 1000 hours of community service, helping wayward youths get on the right track. Tip has 500 more hours of community service to perform once he is released from the halfway house in the coming months.