T.I. is allowing his son King to lead his own path—even if it lands him in prison. The artist spoke about his son’s recent run-in with law enforcement on Friday.
As previously reported, police arrested the eighteen-year-old for reasons that remain unclear. However, in a video, his friend revealed police gave him a violation for not wearing a seatbelt. After the arrest, King took to Instagram with a message for anyone saying he wants to be a gangster.
“Everybody that say n***** tryna be gangsta. I ain’t ask for the police to pull me over, y’all b******* a** n*****,” King said.
In separate posts, King labeled the situation a “minor set bacc fa a major come bacc” and posted a photo giving the middle finger and a capitalized “f**k 12.”
Naturally, folks online clicked over to T.I.’s social profiles with calls for him to advise his young son on his problematic behavior. This comes just a few months after footage of King arguing with a Waffle House employee went viral. At the time, T.I. slammed the trending topic, saying, “I don’t understand what worked we’re living in when this is what we’d rather promote.”
However, on Friday, T.I. seemingly wanted no part in public discourse about his son’s behavior. Instead, he made it clear the conversation was already held in private–with King, his mother Tiny, and even his grandmother.
“Got a small request man, stop hitting me and getting in my comments telling me what to tell King,” T.I. said. “I know my son. You think I ain’t spoke to my son? Think I ain’t told my son, his mama and his grandmama, his a** going to prison if he goddamn keep this sh*t up, his a** going to prison. Ain’t no way round it, ain’t nothing I’m gon be able to do about it. Can’t nobody stop it but him.”
The artist continued, saying he’s “made [his] peace” with whatever is next for King. He claimed to know his son’s energy because he was that energy and knows how things will turn out.
“King’s a good kid chasing after the wrong sh*t,” T.I. said. “I trust in God to deal with it the way that he see fit. It ain’t really sh*t else I…he done got all the whoopings, he done got the punishment…did everything as a child you can do to him. So now, he gon’ have to go through it and get through it. And ain’t nothing me, his mama or nobody else gon’ be able to say ’bout it man.”
One thing T.I. made clear is his unconditional love for King. He stated that he will love his child through “whatever it is he’s going through.” But, at this point, T.I. will let life be King’s teacher.
“He gon’ learn his lessons, life is gon’ teach him all the lessons that he need to know. And that’s the most that we can do, that’s the best we can ask for. I know who he is at his core. This sh*t that he trying to…he trying to convince himself of things as we all do as young men and even young women growing up. Try to convince ourselves that we are certain things and in that journey, we find out exactly who the f**k we really is.”
At the time of publication, King had not publicly responded to his father’s comments. Watch T.I.’s complete reaction below.