Mendeecees Harris recently opened up about his past struggles on Instagram during a trip down memory lane as the 42-year-old took his children to school.
In the post from Thursday, Sept. 9, Harris shared a side-by-side collage of a throwback image of himself and present-day photo of his oldest son Mendeecees Harris Jr., 15, at the same age. The music producer’s sole reason behind the inspirational upload was to showcase the differences between the paths of him and his son at 15 years old.
Harris began by saying when he was his son’s age he was “on the corners hustling.” The slang term hustling means to earn a living by participating in illegal or unethical activities. “Good morning.. TBT I took this picture this morning dropping my kids off to school… I remembered where I was at in my life @ his age (on the corners hustling).”
The “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta” star’s “hustling” days caught up with him in 2015 after he was given an eight-to-10 year prison sentence for charges related to drug trafficking. He ultimately served four years and was released in January 2020.
Harris added that his greatest success, apart from fame, was providing a life for his children, including Mendeecees Jr., outside of the streets so that they didn’t end up taking a similar path. He said while tagging three of four children’s Instagram accounts, “I’m so grateful I’m able to give him a chance to focus on his education and being a productive citizen. For me this is my success I’m bless 🙏🏽 @lilmendc @omereandskylar @aasimharris1.”
Immediately following Harris’ post, his wife Yandy Smith-Harris commented with how “blessed” she is to still have him here. She wrote, “You don’t look like what you been through baby. Blessed to have you still here❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️.”
In addition to Smith-Harris’ remarks, other people praised Harris for “breaking” what could have been a generational curse.
“Breaking generational curses‼️🙌🏾💯 🔥.”
“Blessings! Keep changing the narrative my guy 💯🏆.”
“This is what parenting is all about. Giving our babies the opportunities we never had. So awesome 💪🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾.”
“Love this and you’re right this is true success! ❤️❤️❤️.”
“Keep being that example you want in his life.”
