Tameka “Tiny” Harris, 43, and T.I., 38, have their work cut out for them when it comes to their kids. The hip hop couple has three children together, sons Clifford ‘King’ Joseph Harris III, 14, and Major Philant Harris, 10, and their daughter, the youngest Harris, Heiress Diana, 2, along with others from previous relationships. And, their son King is ready to take over the music biz just like his famous parents, but, with his own flavor!
In previews for their hit reality show, T.I. & Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle — every Monday 9/8c on VH1 — an emotional King is at odds with his parents over wanting to start his music career on his terms. However, music vets, T.I. and Tiny have had to let the 14-year-old know that things are harder than they look. “He is my wild child, my wild card,” Tiny told HollywoodLife of her son, King, during an exclusive interview. “He likes to challenge everything and everyone, especially his parents, because he wants to go in his own lane [with music]. He wants to do his own thing, you know,” she explained.
Tiny went on to describe how her son’s competitiveness is what drives his energy. “Me and his dad, we try to guide him with a lot of things. He listens, but he still goes back and forth because he’s competitive. He likes to go back and forth with us because he feels like we haven’t been in the lane that he’s in, or the area he’s trying to go into,” Tiny explained, adding that sometimes King can bite off more than he can chew.
“And I get it, you know. But, me and his dad were like, ‘Look, you need to put in more work before you try to drop something,'” Tiny said, noting that their advice has come from their own experiences in the studio. — Tiny with her girl group, Xscape, along with her own tracks, as well as Tip’s solo rap career. “Because, it took us a lot of recording, over and over,” Tiny explained of how she and Tip would do things. “You you record, you record, and you keep recording until you find the feeling’ like, “I got a great body of work.”
As for King? — “My son has been in the studio all of five, six months and he’s like, ‘Yeah, this is it. You know what I’m sayin’, I’m the man,'” Tiny revealed. “We’re like wait a minute, you’re good, but you gotta get better, you gotta keep going, you know!”
King recently dropped his track, “Drip”, to rave reviews. The video will soon be released. “He was like, ‘I’m wanna put this song out, and everybody loved it when I played a little snippet,'” Tiny recalled a conversation she had with King when “Drip” was in its early stages. “So, that’s when I was like, ‘King, if it fails, then cool, you know, I told you that you needed to put more work into it. But, if it goes good, I’m gonna let you have that opportunity to say that you made your own decision,'” Tiny explained.
After going through the “back and forth” with King over his career, Tiny admitted that she and Tip are backing him. “And, he’s out there and the song is really catchy! People are loving it. He’s on tour with this group called ‘Members Only,’ which is XXX’s group and he’s loving it,” the singer gushed, adding that King thinks he’s already T.I. “I had to like, ‘Okay, simmer down, we have not sold one record yet, okay, calm down,'” she joked. — See more of Tiny, Tip, King and the rest of their family and friends in the second season of T.I. & Tiny: Friends and Family Hustle — every Monday 9/8c on VH1!