T.I. sets aside viral family drama to plug son King's new single, 'Father Like Sons'
Is all well again in the Harris household? Rapper T.I. and his son King have set aside their apparent animosity and banded together for King's newest foray into music.
On Wednesday, the 19-year-old released his first family collaboration, "Father Like Sons," which features T.I.'s elder son Domani. Incidentally, it came on the heels of King and the Grammy-winning rapper getting into a dispute that went viral after King partially livestreamed it.
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T.I. and King, who said he is retiring his Kid Saiyan moniker in 2024, had engaged in a light-hearted back and forth over the weekend about the aspiring emcee's upbringing in their suite at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium at Sunday's Atlanta Falcons game.
The "Whatever You Like" rapper and his wife, Tiny, asserted that King's childhood was rather cushy — he was reared in a gated community with a "silver spoon," they said — but King insisted that his early days were filled with hardships that made him want to flee to his grandmother's house. As a counterpoint, Tiny alleged in the footage that that's where King was allowed to use a pacifier until he was 12.
When the argument escalated — and with King repeatedly saying "I stand on business" — the exchange appeared to get physical in the suite. As speculation ran wild, T.I, real name Clifford Harris, and the other Harrises did little to address the scuffle until the song's release.
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The internet — as it's wont to do — eagerly weighed in on the debate and King fed into the speculation for days by cryptically alluding to it on social media. T.I., who has seven children in his blended family with Tiny, appeared to break his silence on the altercation Tuesday to promote King's new track, writing on Instagram that the Harris family is "tied like a knot" and that he would ride to the "heavens or da depths of hell" for his son.
“F— what dis internet talkin bout… Da HFamily Tied Like a Knot… We all We Got…4LIFE… Ima RIDE to da heavens or da depths of HELL bout my Jr.& ain’t nothing gon change that. Now tune in… to the new episode of #GOATTalk wit Me & my Jr. @the_next_king10…,” the "Live Your Live" rapper wrote, later adding, "Can’t deny my DNA."
Tip's post accompanied a Complex interview between father and son discussing the best reasons they have gone viral. In it, the "Ant-Man" actor also noted that the media "is overrated" and that if a viral moment "turns into commerce ... it got to come first."
It appears that "Father Like Sons" makes good on Tip and his son's longtime mantras. King refers to himself as a "wildcard" on the track and asserts that unless you watched the family's VH1 reality show, "T.I. and Tiny: The Family Hustle," then "you wouldn’t get the picture." He also repeats the line "I'm just so much like my daddy" on the track as well as "I stand on business."
"Pops taught me how to stand up for myself and take no s— and that’s who I am regardless of where I’m from," King told Complex. He added that the song describes his life off camera and the person that he is independent of his family.
T.I., 43, has won three Grammy Awards and is regarded among the trap music pioneers of Atlanta. His musical genes have already been exhibited by his and Tiny's family. His eldest son, Messiah Harris, 23, whom he shares with ex Lashon Dixon, is a country and blues musician whose stage name is Buddy Red.
"Father Like Sons" rapper Domani, 22, has been celebrated for his masterful flow and featured Messiah on his track "Hi-Ya."
Tiny Harris, whose real name is Tameka Cottle, is no stranger to the music scene either. She was a member of the '90s R&B group Xscape and earned a Grammy Award for her contributions to TLC's 1999 hit "No Scrubs."
Her daughter with ex Zonnie Pullins, Zonnique Pullins, is a member of the R&B group OMG Girlz, which Tiny formed, and appeared on "Growing Up Hip-Hop: Atlanta" from 2017 to 2018.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
