Clifford Joseph Harris Jr. really shouldn’t be here right now. The odds of someone with a past like his suggest that he shouldn’t have released his ninth studio album this week. Yet, T.I. presents Paperwork, in an era when most rappers flounder to have a discography that extends past three LPs and/or five years. Throughout his tenure, “Tip” (as he is affectionately known) has overcome hurdles and dodged bullets, still remaining as relevant as ever.

It wasn’t all that long ago when rap fans doubted the cavalier Atlanta rapper. In 2001, he boldly crowned himself “King of the South,” despite fellow southerners such as Ludacris, OutKast, Scarface, and a host of others being more established heirs to the throne. Nevertheless, he threw his tilted brim into the arena and laid claim to the distinction before ever releasing an album. His hubris could have worked against him, leading to career suicide. However, the artist formally known as T.I.P. has a superpower that allows him to speak ideas into existence. With eight albums, ten mixtapes, over one hundred singles, four movies (with two more on the way, including a role in Marvel’s Ant Man), two reality TV shows, and a slew of accolades under his belt, the cocksure rapper has silenced the naysayers and proven that he wasn’t lying when the title of his 2001 debut album told us I’m Serious.

“I always had goals set for myself,” T.I. tells Cuepoint, as he slumps back into a black sofa chair inside of his Akoo clothing line’s booth at the Agenda Trade Show in Las Vegas. Just outside of the enclosure, convention attendees try to capture a glimpse of the slender MC, who still looks like he belongs on a college campus, despite his 33 years on this planet. The furor outside doesn’t break his train of thought, as he looks back at some of his earliest accomplishments during his 14-year career—from getting a gold plaque on the first major label song he released (“2 Glock 9’s” from the 2000 Shaft remake soundtrack) to seeing his videos on MTV’s now defunct Total Request Live countdown show.

“Setting those milestones and achieving them is the key to success,” he says after spending several minutes running down every single one of his goals that he has reached. “That’s how you remain hungry. If you don’t set a new goal after you accomplish a previous goal, you will become complacent and stagnant. I always have something to prove.”

Today T.I. continues to set overly ambitious goals for his music career and revels in proving people wrong. He’s already sold millions of records, arguably earned the self-appointed “King of the South” crown, has built his own record label and nurtured hugely successful talents such as B.o.B. and Iggy Azalea. So what’s next?

Back in May, T.I. revealed his elephantine plans for Paperwork: The Motion Picture.

“What me, Pharrell, Columbia, Hustle Gang, what we trying to do, man… we trying to now make the album a trilogy, but to be released in a 12-month period,” T.I. said during an interview with Big Tigger on Atlanta’s V-103. “Three albums in 12 months and a movie to finalize it. In 12 months, the film should be shot, and we should be presenting it in grand fashion, as we always do.”

Five months have passed since the audacious announcement and Tip says those plans are still intact, with the first installment of the Paperwork album arriving this week, and the second and third volumes, The Return and Love & Liability, already titled. Paperwork is his first project on Columbia since departing from Atlantic, with Pharrell Williams executive producing. Collaborators on the album include former rival, Jeezy, on “G Shit,” as well as industry staples such as Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Usher, and The-Dream, along with rising talents Young Thug and Iggy Azalea. T.I. is excited about the album being overseen by Pharrell and believes that this is his most idiosyncratic project to date.