T.I. is giving his son King Harris grace, as the young man seems determined to graduate from the school of hard knocks despite his suburban and well-to-do upbringing.
The 19-year-old has the reputation of being the “bad” offspring among the Grand Hustle rapper’s crew of seven children, three of whom he shares with his wife, Tiny.
But the aspiring hip-hop artist’s persona as being from the streets is a struggle that T.I. never wanted for his children, namely due to the “treachery, the betrayal,” and “the deceit” he overcame to expand his life beyond the trappings of crime and poverty in his neighborhood of Bankhead.
In a May 28th discussion on “The Breakfast Club,” he said, “Let King tell it, he got it, you know, he got it out the mud, man” when asked about the type of life he wants for his children, Zonnique, Deyjah, Messiah, Domani, King, Major, and Heiress.
However, the personality that his “problem child” presents to the world shares traits that the “Bring Em Out” emcee saw in his younger self.
“I do see some of the tenacity in King that I had. You know what I’m saying? Some of the gotta make it no matter what type s—t. Like, he really pushing like he came out the welfare line,” he said, adding that while he wouldn’t wish his tough upbringing on King or his siblings, they would all benefit from life lessons learned through struggle.
T.I. explained, “I do want that for ’em. I don’t want to be there to see it. You know what I’m saying? I don’t think — It’ll break my heart to see it, you know. But yeah, I would if I could fall asleep for like two, three years and then woke up, they was like, ‘Man, we glad you up, man. We was struggling like a motherf—ker! Got d—n! We ain’t ate!’
“You know I think that would offer them some principles that would benefit them. … That kind of s—t, you can’t teach that … that kind of tenacity, that kind of die-hard, you know, just resiliency, can’t teach that s—t.”
The 43-year-old and King might not always see eye to eye about the young man’s growing pains, a reality that fans somewhat witnessed last year when the father and son were involved in a public blowup.
King, angered by his parents’ unwillingness to accept his narrative about growing up in the streets, appeared to be placed in a headlock by T.I. when tempers flared during an argument at a Falcons game in Atlanta.
T.I. SON "KING" READY TO FIGHT HIS DADDY EXPEDITIOUSLY FOR RESPECT #RAHRAHNEWS pic.twitter.com/R3Zngm9aSo
— RAH RAH NEWS (@RAHRAHNEWS) November 28, 2023
In April, the A.K.O.O. Clothing founder said that conflicting viewpoints on King’s persona was at the crux of the scuffle. “I ain’t finna treat you like you a hardened criminal,” he said of his son on the “Willie D Live Podcast.”
T.I. further claimed that “He’s really the personality that he has assumed for himself. And all in all, it’s really just a personality, because he’s not out there selling no dope and committing crimes, and nothing like that.”
King has been the subject of unflattering headlines dating back to 2022, when fans first began to think his behavior might be leading him down an unforgiving path.
