T.I. is addressing recent comments made by his son Clifford Joseph "King" Harris III, who compared their real-life relationship to one of television’s most infamous father–son dynamics.
During an appearance on Atlanta radio station V-103, the veteran rapper and entrepreneur reacted to King likening their past tension to the relationship between Ghost and Tariq St. Patrick from Starz hit series Power, a comparison that famously ends in tragedy.
“He trying to kill me. Oh, he’s trying to kill me,” T.I. joked at first, before offering a more thoughtful explanation.
The Atlanta icon said he understood what King may have meant, framing it less as a literal comparison and more as commentary on influence, legacy, and unintended consequences passed down from parent to child.
“If he means that I passed down certain skills, tools, and perspectives through my DNA, by no intention of my own, then I guess he would have a point,” T.I. said. “As good of a father as Ghost tried to be, as much as he tried to divert young Tariq’s path, he still ended up catching that heat at the end.”
The comments stem from King’s appearance earlier this year on Reginae Carter’s Heir Time podcast, where the 21-year-old rapper described his once-strained relationship with his father as similar to Ghost and Tariq’s power struggle.
King explained that while T.I. pushed him toward a cleaner, more polished image, he felt misunderstood.
T.I., however, emphasized that his intentions have always been rooted in protection and growth. He said he has tried to show King different sides of himself over the years, both as a father and as a man navigating complex situations in the public eye.
“I think I’ve done the best I can to show King a different side of myself,” T.I. said. “But a lot of it is more caught than it is taught. He’s seen me in situations. He’s observed my actions.”
The rapper added that fatherhood doesn’t come with a manual, especially when raising a child in the spotlight. He acknowledged that some lessons land later in life, once experience fills in the gaps that words can’t.
King and T.I.’s relationship has been publicly scrutinized in recent years, including viral family disputes and interviews where King pushed back against narratives about growing up privileged. Since then, the two have reconciled, and King has shown signs of maturation, particularly after becoming a father himself.