T.I. says “that sucked” when reflecting on the backlash he faced for discussing daughter Deyjah’s gynecologist visits, and he now believes fatherhood requires far more listening than talking.
“I’ve learned not to do as much talking as I do listening,” the rapper, 45, told PEOPLE of raising his seven children with wife Tiny, particularly daughters Zonnique, 30, Deyjah, 25, and Heiress, 10.
In 2019, T.I. was dragged online after saying he accompanied Deyjah, then a teenager, to appointments to confirm she was still a virgin. He later apologized.
The public fallout was also captured during the filming of T.I. and Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle.
“We experienced that as a family in real time, and it just happened to have been recorded,” he said. By the time the episodes aired, the family had already lived through the controversy once.
“Family Hustle was like our photo album,” he continued. “I can go back to see Major when he was 2. He’s on his way to college now.”
Parenting sons Messiah, 26, Domani, 25, King, 21, and Major, 18, has brought a different lesson.
“You have to operate with more faith than fear,” he said.
