T.F

​​​​Blue Chips is a monthly rap column that highlights exceptional rising rappers. To read previous columns, click here. T.F’s memoir could open in a blazing Southern California wildfire. At 18, he and fellow incarcerated firefighters cut smoldering brush and dug parched soil to prevent towering flames from incinerating more acres of hillsides and mountains. He once nearly died when gallons of viscous aerial retardant dropped from a plane knocked him onto the side of a cliff. Today, the 36-year-old L.A. rapper has yet to commit that sweltering carceral nightmare to record. “In the book that I’m putting together, we’re only on chapter three out of a hundred. I still have so much to say,” T.F says. Wearing navy blue from his Polo hat and hoodie to his basketball shorts, he speaks while leani...