page_title: Dead and Gone
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: Dead and Gone / Background
caption_attribution_description: English: Actor and musician Justin Timberlake at the 83rd Academy Awards.
context_page_description: "Dead and Gone" is a song by American hip hop recording artist T.I., featuring American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake. It was released as the eighth single from T.I.'s sixth studio album, Paper Trail. Due to the high number of digital downloads upon the album's release, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 before its official single release. The song marked the second collaboration between T.I. and Justin Timberlake, the first being the hit single "My Love", from Timberlake's second album, FutureSex/LoveSounds. T.I. and Timberlake performed this song at the 51st Grammy Awards. The song was later nominated twice at the 52nd Grammy Awards, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Song. It was the 10th bestselling digital single of 2009 in the United States. As of 2018, it had sold 3.5 million copies in the country.
context_section_description: Rob Knox, one of the song's producers, expressed his feelings about creating the song:
  We were like, this guy's going through a lot with his whole court case situation and his best friend dyin', and everything in the world kind of crumbling in front of him in a way. We [agreed that] it would be real cool and unexpected to give people something a little more heartfelt - not the club, party, typical record that everybody wanted. We even had a feeling that T.I. was gonna mention that, but we already had a plan for him.
  In the song, T.I. deals with the death of his best friend and former bodyguard, Philant Johnson, who was killed on May 3, 2006, when T.I.'s crew was caught up in a shooting after a show in Cincinnati that left three injured and Johnson dead. The lyrics include lines such as: "Whoever thought I'd never see Philant no more," and "Big Phil this is for you." Johnson's tombstone is shown in the video.
caption: Justin Timberlake is featured in "Dead and Gone."
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