"[T.I.] Inspired Me To Keep Going When I Was Thinking About Quitting"

West Coast rapper Glasses Malone has divulged on the career-changing motivation he received from an unlikely source years back when he contemplated hanging up the microphone for good.

According to Malone, a random run-in with Atlanta's T.I. in a Los Angeles airport McDonald's had a large impact on his life.

"I look over and he's like 'Glasses? G. Malone?' I'm like 'Yeah.' He's like 'Man, I f*** with your sh** homie.' I was just like 'Yeah?' He said 'Yeah dog, I heard the sh** you did with [DJ] Toomp, and some other sh**. You cold,' " Malone explained. "I was like that was big to tell me that," he continued. "Just to see him saying he acknowledged who I was and knew who I was, and heard some of my music, that was big to me." The two chopped it up for a bit, and planned to collaborate, but never exchange phone numbers. For Glasses, it didn't matter, because those few words from T.I. put him back on track, because before the meeting, he was ready to revert back to the streets. (Baller Status)

Their brief meeting also inspired him to craft a song called "Call Me T.I." off his new Beach Cruisher debut album.

"I just felt like we had so much in common. I remember ... I think it was 'I'm Serious.' People didn't realize how dope he was and him having to reset his offense and go through all this sh**, to come back and drop his next album," said Glasses of his TIP tribute. "People not believing in him, even though he was talented from Day one. I just felt like our situation was similar, so I went ahead and made a song that just was like, having fun and paying homage to a n**** that really just inspired me to keep going when I was thinking about quitting." (Baller Status)

While Tip may have inspired his decision to stay in rap, Malone recently said Young Money's Drake has motivated him to want to croon.

"I wish I could sing sometimes, but I can't, so what I try to do is keep carving my niche at this gangsta sh--," he told Mixtape Daily. "I figure, I can't top Drake doin' what he's doin'. Drake is that n---a, he got it together. [Lil] Wayne is that n---a, but I could make them n---as like, 'Man that n---a G's sh-- hard.' And once you do that, you win...Me and Drake, we talked a couple of times. We barely finna do somethin' now. I just couldn't figure out a song for Drake. I don't talk about girls." (MTV)

Glasses recently talked to SOHH and described his undying urge to make it in the rap game.

"Beach Cruiser's original release date was March 2007. You feel me? So this is really going on four years. It'll be four and a half years that I've waited to put out this album. I didn't chicken out and I didn't b*tch out. Don't get me wrong, I still do a lot of things in the streets but I didn't turn my back on rap. A lot of the people that came into this with me don't f*ck around with it anymore. It's not they primary focus. They went back to life because music left such a sour taste in their mouth. Me? I stuck it out and rode it out through all of the bullsh*t. Don't get me wrong, all praises to God and Birdman, Mack-10 and Lil Wayne's given me a clear head to do it, but I stuck it out. I didn't b*tch out and quit. I didn't let this make me bitter and make me quit. I didn't change my album title or anything. I just rode it out to get to this point that I'm at now." (SOHH Buy My)