As a kid, he said he was a great student . . . but as a teenager, he began making bad choices. He said, quote, "I think for me, it was independence. It was about being a provider. It was me and my mom at that point."

T.I. said that he'd see his mom's "final notice" bills . . . and he decided to take it upon himself to make sure they could cover their debts. So, he began selling CRACK.

He said, quote, "My mom never knew how I was getting it done . . . she just knew I was getting it done. I had a few fronts too, man. I used to sell candy. I used to go to the warehouse and buy a bunch of candy, get a book bag full of candy, and off it.

"I pretended to my mom for a long time that that's how I was getting the money."

Everything was fine, until his mom discovered a quarter ounce of crack in one of his socks. T.I. said, quote, "She kind of put two and two together." (--Yes, that was the moment she realized that M&Ms and Skittles weren't paying her mortgage.) (???)

Then T.I. made a resounding point: He said that a teenager selling drugs may make good money up front . . . but in the LONG RUN . . . a kid who works and gets an education will always come out on top.

He said, quote, "You got to realize that this is a marathon. It ain't about who gets it first, it's about who has it last. I ain't never seen nobody retire from selling crack. Never. I've never seen no 401K from no cocaine dealing."