Zonnique Pullins appeared on a recent episode of the Jay Hill Podcast and was very transparent when reflecting on her relationship with her mother, Xscape singer Tiny. As well as her mother’s marriage to rapper T.I. and the effect it had on their mother-daughter relationship.
Podcast host Jay Hill opened the conversation with Pullins by explaining that her mother Tiny was part of a successful R&B group Xscape since Pullins was a child.
Hill went on to summarize that because of this, Pullins never got to bask in those average “mommy-daughter” experiences like some of her other friends may have.
“That’s pretty much the sum up of it.”
Pullins replied, then went on to explain that she became “numb” to the shortcomings of the relationship with her mother.
“When I was a kid, I was like ‘I wish my mom would come off the road and I want my dad out of prison.’ And after a while, it was my life… You just become numb to it… I don’t hold that against her that she was on the road and doing all those things. I guess I would have liked to have those mommy-daughter moments. But honestly, now that I’m a mom, I guess that’s what I would have wanted with my daughter.”
Pullins is now a mother to a two-year-old daughter whom she shares with her former boyfriend, Bandhunta Izzy.
Pullins then went on to reflect on her mother’s relationship with her stepfather, rapper T.I., and how his presence negatively impacted their relationship. According to the Los Angeles Times, Tiny and T.I. began dating in 2001 and then married in 2010. At the time, T.I. had three children from previous relationships (Messiah Harris, Domani Harris, and Deyjah Harris) while Tiny was a mother to one child, Zonnique. The pair went on to give birth to three more children together, who include King Harris, Major Philant Harris, and Heiress Diana Harris.
Pullins went on to reflect on what hurt her the most about her mother’s union with her stepfather. However, some of her statements and further explanations were censored and bleeped out.
“I would say what hurt me is honestly my mom being with TIP all the time. Like even now, today, that’s how it is. They’re just tied to the hip. It’s like they’d rather go places with each other, so anytime he gotta go, she gotta go too…”
Despite the negative impact, Pullins explained that she knows her mother’s absence in her childhood was a huge sacrifice she had to make and she doesn’t fault her mother because of it. Additionally, Pullins added that T.I. has been an “amazing” stepfather to her.
Roommates, what do you think of Zonnique’s transparency and her experience with her mother Tiny?