During a recent sit-down on The Joe Budden Podcast, Tip left the room stunned when he completely dismissed the idea of participating in the hit battle series, Verzuz, chalking it up to a hustle that simply lacks financial incentive for artists of his caliber.
The conversation started when the hosts brought up the potential for legendary face-offs and celebrating hit catalogs. T.I., looking unimpressed on the couch, shut down the hype immediately, stating that he has officially evolved past that era of his career.
<blockquote>”I don’t want to… I don’t want to indulge in that side of life no more. I ain’t even interested, bruh,” T.I. can be heard explaining in the recently circulated clip. “Like, ain’t no money over there in that sh**t, bruh. That sh*t poor people activity.”</blockquote>
Now, Budden tried to pivot, arguing that the platform is ultimately meant “to celebrate music” and to “celebrate each other’s music.” He even threw in the possibility that there could be some major bags tied to the events now, but Tip remained entirely unmoved.
<blockquote>”To celebrate music… I could do that talking about me,” T.I. shot back, waving off the necessity of a battle format. “Why the f—k I got to be… at 45, bro, I’m 45. What the f—k I’m doing going back and forth with a nigga, man? Like for what, bro? Like why?”</blockquote>
While the room debated whether Verzuz truly has winners and losers, with the co-hosts pointing out that bad live performances can instantly ruin an artist’s legacy, T.I. did offer a more analytical take on how the audience views these battles.
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He noted that the narrative rarely favors the undisputed heavyweight going in, saying, “You know who usually wins? The underdog. If you think about it, everybody go in thinking that it’s going to go one way, and it usually don’t.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>T.i tells the joe budden pod he ain’t trying to no Verzuz it’s no money over there . That’s poor people activity <a href=”https://t.co/reHAb6TrpD”>pic.twitter.com/reHAb6TrpD</a></p>— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@Thechat101) <a href=”https://x.com/Thechat101/status/2069027985718493555?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>June 22, 2026</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.x.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>
While fans have long clamored to see the King of the South bring his massive catalog of anthems to the Verzuz stage, it looks like unless there is a massive corporate check attached to the flyer, T.I. is perfectly content keeping his classic records in the vault. Whew!