March 21, 2008

T.I. Can Leave House Arrest To Attend Easter Services, Judge Rules

By MTV.com

T.I. may not have been allowed to host Thanksgiving at the home in Atlanta where he remains under house arrest while he awaits his trial on weapons charges - but he will be permitted to go to an Easter service, according to The Associated Press.

On Thursday, a federal magistrate judge ruled that T.I. (real name: Clifford Harris) can attend a service sponsored by the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church from 8:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Easter Sunday this weekend, according to the report.

According to court documents, the service was originally planned to be held at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, but due to tornado damage at the venue, it may be held at the church's location in Lithonia, Georgia.

The judge said T.I. must be accompanied by a court-approved monitor and one of his attorneys during his trip away from home.

In recent weeks, the rapper has been hard at work in his home studio on his next LP, Paper Trail, which he hopes to release this year. MTV News talked to him last month, and found his competitive itch in full gear.

T.I.'s label says the album is still on track to come out this year. And while material from that project has yet to surface, he did just appear with Young Jeezy on a new remix of Lupe Fiasco's "Superstar."

"It's a lot of bullsh-- out [in hip-hop] right now," he said via phone from Atlanta. "I'm not gonna front. I feel it's definitely about time for somebody to come back out and kick this thing back in gear. The rotation is suffering right now. I intend to do something about it. It's just a matter of when."

In December, Tip sent a video message to his fans via his social-networking site, StreetCred.com, saying that he was 30 percent done with the album.