Rapper Clifford “T.I.” Harris Jr. is speaking out following the arrest of his son King Harris. The 18-year-old aspiring rapper was taken into custody for reasons still not yet public.
While Harris fought off critics in the comment sections of Instagram posts that claimed the young star was “trying to be a gangster” following his release, there was no immediate response from his parents, T.I. and Tiny Harris, until recently when the “Live Your Life” emcee addressed the matter during a Live session.
“If he godd–n keep that s–t up, he’s going to prison. Ain’t no way around it, ain’t nothing I’ll be able to do about it,” he said. “‘Cause I know that energy. I was that energy. I know exactly how it’s going to turn out,” he went on before he was interrupted by an eager fan looking to snap a selfie with the star.
‘So, I already had that conversation with him, man,” he continued. “King’s a good kid chasing after the wrong s–t, and you know, I trust God to deal with it in the way He sees fit.” T.I. further revealed that he’s tried every form of discipline to correct the issue but has remained unsuccessful.
“He done got all the whuppings and punishment,” the father continued. “Did everything, as a child, you could do to him. So, now you’re gonna have to go through it and get through it and ain’t nothing that me and mama or nobody else gonna be able to say about it.”
The rapper said he remains supportive of his son, sharing, “I’m gonna love him all the way through whatever it is he’s going through.” He added, “He gonna learn his lessons. Life is going to teach him all the lessons that he needs to know. That’s the best that we can do. That’s the best we can as for.”
It’s unclear what has triggered King’s recent public outbursts. T.I. believes his son maybe just in a natural process of self-discovery many young men and women go through, noting that “in that journey, we find out exactly who we really is.”
“It happens when we least expect it, and our lessons come from where we didn’t know they were coming from,” he said before adding, “Time is gonna be his teacher.”
T.I. posted the video clip captioned “God got it” to his page, where he was met with primarily positive reactions from online users, including one supporter who commented, “Amen just put it in God’s hands and just love him.”
Another person wrote, “All you can do is tell them.” before sharing, “I hate when people hold parents accountable for the kid’s wrongdoing. All we can do as parents is teach them the right way to go… They have a choice. ”
The rapper also received praise for how he handled the fan interrupting him during the Live. “This was in the middle of a moment (if you’re a parent you know) but yet stopped and as emotional as he might have been at that very moment still smiled for a photo with a fan! That’s King #salute.”
