"Ball" is a song by American rapper

T.I. Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. (born September 25, 1980), known professionally as T.I. or Tip, is an American rapper and singer raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Harris is credited as a pioneer of the hip hop subgenre trap music, along with fellow Georgi ...

, released on October 16, 2012, as the second official single from his eighth studio album '' Trouble Man: Heavy Is the Head'' (2012). The song features a

guest appearance The term guest appearance generally denotes the appearance of a guest in an artistic or pop-culture setting. The guests themselves (referred to as guest artists, featured artists, guest stars, or guest fighters, depending on context), are disting ...

from fellow American

rapper Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates "rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backing ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper. He is often regarded as one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generation, as well as one of the greatest rappers of all ...

, as well as

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

and uncredited vocals from American

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Rico Love Richard Preston Butler Jr. (born December 3, 1982), better known by his stage name Rico Love, is an American record producer, singer, songwriter, and rapper. He was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, but split his childhood between Milwaukee, Wisco ...

. In 2013, the song was included on the soundtrack to the film ''

Fast & Furious 6 ''Fast & Furious 6'' (titled onscreen as ''Furious 6'') is a 2013 action film directed by Justin Lin and written by Chris Morgan. It is the sequel to ''Fast Five'' (2011) and the sixth installment in the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. The fil ...

''.

Background

The single, a New Orleans bounce record, was first announced by the song's producer Rico Love, who already had high hopes for the song, stating: "I'm not trying to be cocky, but I pretty much know that that's gonna be a

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

". T.I. unveiled the single's original artwork on June 29, 2012, which was later changed on October 8, 2012, along with the announcement of the single's release date. The song was previewed in the second season of his

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

series '' T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle'' on episode 5. The episode premiered on September 25, 2012, featuring the preview of it at a listening session in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

. The song was released on October 15, 2012, via T.I.'s

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channel managed by

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, and was available for purchase at iTunes Store on October 16, 2012. Rico Love

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

"Drag Rap", as performed by The Showboys, to produce the song.

Music video

T.I. shot a video for the song at Hollygrove in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, featuring cameo appearances of Rico Love,

Trae Trae is a given name. Notable people with the name "Trae" include * Trae Bell-Haynes (born 1995), Canadian basketball player * Trae Coyle (born 2001), English footballer * Trae Crowder (born 1986), American comedian * Trae Elston (born 1994), Am ...

, Mack Maine, Birdman, T.I.'s sons as well as T.I. and Lil Wayne. The photos of it came out on September 25, 2012, via his series ''#TroubleManTuesdays''. The video of

behind the scenes https://www Googlefinans.co= In filmmaking, behind-the-scenes (BTS), also known as the making-of, the set, or on the set, is a documentary film that features the production of a film or television program. This is often referred to as the EPK ( ...

was released, on September 28, 2012, and the trailer for it came out on October 16, 2012 - same day it was released on iTunes. The music video premiered on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

Right after T.I.'s show '' T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle''. The video was directed by

Marc Klasfeld Marc Klasfeld is an American music video director. He has directed over two hundred music videos for artists such as Slipknot, Sum 41, Katy Perry, Jay-Z, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Britney Spears, Kid Rock, Michael Bublé, Nelly, Foo Fighters, Kelly ...

Track listing

;Digital download # "Ball" — 3:25

Credits and personnel

Production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stat ...

–

, Earl & E Music Video Director: Marc Klasfeld Production Company: Rockhard Motion Studio: Super77 Producer: Rainer Ziehm Project Coordinator: Sara Santillan Creative Director: Nate Reese, Sean Conner Animation: Nate Reese, Chris Meister, Andrew Mark, Scott Ulliman, Chavilah Bennett

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2012 singles T.I. songs Grand Hustle Records singles Songs written by T.I. Lil Wayne songs Songs written by Lil Wayne Songs written by Rico Love Music videos directed by Marc Klasfeld Atlantic Records singles Song recordings produced by Rico Love 2012 songs Songs written by Earl Hood Songs written by Eric Goudy Bounce music songs