I'm Serious is the debut studio album by American rapper T.I., released on October 9, 2001 by Arista Records and Ghet-O-Vision Entertainment. It remains his only release with the former label.

The album included guest appearances from Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes (who called T.I. "the Jay-Z of the South"), Jazze Pha, Too Short, Bone Crusher, Lil Jon, Mac Boney, Pastor Troy, P$C and YoungBloodZ, while production was handled by DJ Toomp, Craig Love, Maseo, Brian Kidd, The Neptunes, Jazze Pha, Yung D, Lil Jon and T.I. himself.

I'm Serious underperformed commercially, only peaking at number 98 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart and selling an estimated 14,000 U.S. copies in its first week. Critical responses were generally mixed to unfavorable; many reviews pointed to the fact that many of the tracks sounded the same, and a few were blatant rip-offs. Other critics commented saying, "T.I. claims to be the king of the South, but fails to show and prove. He does, however, have potential. If his talent ever matches his confidence, he may just be headed for stardom." The album has since sold 200,000 copies.

In 1999, T.I. was discovered by fellow Atlanta native Kawan "KP" Prather—whose company, Ghet-O-Vision, is frequently mentioned on the album. As Ghet-O-Vision was an imprint of Babyface and L.A. Reid's Atlanta-based record label imprint LaFace Records, to which Prather himself was also signed, T.I. was led to sign with the label in preparation for his own debut album. His original stage name was "Tip", a nickname given to him by his paternal great-grandfather, which was shortened to T.I. out of respect for labelmate Q-Tip. Later in 2001, LaFace was collapsed and sold to its parent label and distributor Arista Records, merging the rosters of both labels. According T.I. himself, the buyout made LaFace cease operations in his Atlanta hometown, thus creating a more strenuous commute as the Arista headquarters was located in New York City.

The album was preceded by its title track as its lead single, "I'm Serious". The song was released commercially to radio on June 26, 2001 and failed to enter the Billboard Hot 100, although it found success locally. It was produced by the Neptunes and features Jamaican singer Beenie Man. The label declined to release a second single.

After the album failed to garner much success beyond regional boundaries, T.I. and manager Jason Geter considered their grassroots promotional marketing in Southern cities, and questioned their need to enter a second album cycle with the label. A bargain proposed by T.I. gave Arista three options: disburse US$2 million to each of the album's executive producers, arrange a 50/50 revenue cut, or drop him from the label; Arista ultimately chose the latter. T.I. then signed with Atlantic Records within the next two years, through which he released his second studio album, Trap Muzik (2003), as well as each of his subsequent releases until 2014.

As a teenager, T.I. was a drug dealer; such activity is frequently detailed on the album. By age 14, he had been arrested several times.

Upon its release, I'm Serious received positive reviews from most music critics. Some critics, however, pointed to the fact that many of the tracks sounded the same and that a few were blatant rip-offs. AllMusic writer Jon Azpiri wrote "T.I. claims to be the king of the South, but on I'm Serious he fails to show and prove. He does, however, have potential. If his talent ever matches his confidence, he may be headed for stardom." Down-South gave the album a four out of five stars saying "With his solo finally about to drop, this album should be his gateway into the mainstream arena. Overall, this album is all I expected plus more. I don't seen how anyone couldn't like it because it's comprised of so much diversity. So when you see this album on store shelves, be sure to grab it, you won't be disappointed."