T.I. was the latest in a string of musicians weighing in on the George Zimmerman verdict in the shooting of Trayvon Martin. Based on his words, it's surprising that the rapper hadn't made a statement earlier.
"It was some bulls---," he said simply when speaking on Power 98's "Morning Madness," the morning talk show of the Charlotte-based hip-hop station.
He praised the Martin family for keeping its cool throughout the trial. The rapper attested that if his own son had been killed, he would have reacted with violence of his own.
"My hat goes off to the Martin family, because if it was me and my child, there wouldn't have been no trial," he said. "I'd have been on trial. It would've been the trial of the father who killed the man who killed [my child]. That would have been my story. My hat goes off because [the Martins] are much more clear and level-headed thinkers than [me]."
T.I. saw the whole incident as just more of the same.
"It's just another harsh reminder [that] the world that we live in is as imperfect as God promised us it would be," he said.
The Martin announcement led to a outpouring of tributes from other musicians. Bruce Springsteen and Beyonce both dedicated songs to the teenager in concert, "American Skin (41 Shots)" and "Halo" respectively. Several other rappers, including Young Jeezy, wrote songs dedicated to Martin, and The Roots drummer Questlove wrote a lengthy Facebook post detailing his emotions that became a viral sensation.
