T.I.’s Son Says He Wanted to Sing the Blues, Play Guitar After Seeing ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

Messiah Harris, a.k.a. Buddy Red, wanted to get out of the shadow of his father, T.I., before establishing himself as a blues and rock musician.

The 24-year-old, who T.I. shares with his former partner, Lashon Dixon, appeared on Atlanta talk show Portia, on Monday (Feb. 24), where he explained the backstory of becoming an artist. T.I. has six biological children in total, including rappers King, 20, and Domani Harris, 23. T.I.’s stepdaughter, Zonnique Pullins, 28, who’s mother is Tameka ‘Tiny’ Harris, is a member of OMG Girlz.

Early in the interview, Red explained that he “shied away” from the limelight while being on a six-season former reality show T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle as a child.

“It was more so because I didn’t really know myself yet because a lot of people look at me and they think they know me because they know my father,” he said around the one-minute mark of the video above.

“So I didn’t have much to say because I didn’t really have a lot of confidence in what I said, ’cause I felt like a lot of people weren’t listening, because nobody really knew my name. Nobody knew my name was Messiah for the longest time. They’d look at me and say ‘T.I.’s son,’ and that does something to your mind after years and years. You kind of feel like, That’s just me.‘”

But it was as a teenager when Red broke out of his shell, first as a producer, before he saw Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and picked up the guitar at 18.

“When I saw that movie, I didn’t even know what it was about. But once the music began and I discovered for myself classic rock ‘n’ roll, I forgot all about producing for the most part and I said, I want to be on a stage and I want to do that,” Red added.

The musician got guitar lessons before telling his father, who was surprised at the genre but encouraged it. “I like to think that I represent a version of my pops that didn’t have to do the things that he had to do growing up,” Red said about T.I.

“While he was rapping, originally, he was making beats and stuff, too. He wasn’t doing it seriously but he had the ear to hurry up and get something done instead of pay for a producer–that hustler mentality.”

Red emerged as a blues and rock artist in 2022 and has released songs like “1958” and “You Know.”