Just The Two Of Us: Fatherhood Reflections, Feat. 50 Cent, Lyfe Jennings & Others

My son [Marquis] went through issues initially when the music took off. Because prior to that, I used to drive and drop him off to school. I’d come pick him up. Things a little boy is excited about, his mother doesn’t do with him. She can’t go to the basketball court and play basketball with him. She’ll go watch if there’s other kids there to play with him but she can’t go and do it herself. There’s different things that we would do in our relationship, it changed. But it’s like going through what 55 percent of people who get married go through when they get divorced. It’s the split and the change in one parent being your primary guardian and the other one visits.

In between the time that I had my visitation rights and I got to see my son, I’m all over the world; that’s the difference between me and someone who just goes to work and sees their child when their permitted to. Outside of that my job makes me visible so it's not like he doesn’t know what I’m doing because he’ll call me and say ‘I saw you do this, this and that' and it’s almost like, when I didn’t speak to them to update them on what I'm doing, he knew anyway because he was aware from the entertainment perspective.

He’s gonna be fourteen, a freshman in high school. I watch him go through the different phases, different things that he’ll get into, like now he’s completely aware of him turning into a man. He’s completely conscious of himself fashion wise, and now he’s getting into the girls so he’s like, “Yo I cant wear this.” It’s the funniest things ever to see him get dressed; he’s like, “I can’t wear this. Where we going?”

I’m getting a little bit older so my perspective on life is different now than what it once was. I’m a dad, I’m a husband, so I always make sure that I think about my family first versus back in the days, it was all about me. It wasn’t about, ok, should I do this because my kids don’t look at it this way or whatever. I think about the future. I think about what’s going to happen if I do this. So I’m not as carefree.

I have 8 [kids]. So needless to say, you gotta do the right thing. You gotta be a good witness, you gotta be a good example. I’m not perfect, but sometimes you do have to think about the effect that it will have on your family. I try to make sure that I’m home on the kids’ birthdays, Christmas of course, Thanksgiving, and of course if they do any recitals or anything like that I’m home for that, but Father’s Day, I’m not even sure I’ll be home for that.

I didn’t have a good father figure in my life growing up. Not one. That’s what made me so conscious of being a good father because I’ve been trying to give my kids all the stuff I never had⎯attention, a personal relationship [and] a lot of information.

My children mean everything to me. They are a reason for me to make myself better so I can set a good example for them and they are a reason for me to keep my business in order because they need certain things, otherwise they couldn’t get great schools and great attention. They just make me so happy. Whenever I’m having a bad day they say something or do something silly. How could you not smile at something like that? They’re like my vacuum and nothing exists when I’m with hem.

Good fathers make good kids so that’s why it’s important for these cats out here to spend time with their kids and be good fathers because not only are you affecting their lives, but you’re affecting their whole geneology⎯theit kids, because they’re gonna act toward their kids the way you teach them. So you can look at it like you’re affecting just them, you’re affecting your whole line after them. That’s why you have to be there.

My ideal father's day gift would be to spend time with my daughter. A lot of times I'm on the road and it takes away from her but she's the type of young lady that understands my job and understands what I do and she sees what I go through and she's able to deal with it in a way where a lot of children probably wouldn't. And for other that's in my business that have children that have to go through that--it's unfortunate but it works out. We keep the roof over our head and we have everything we need so it works out. And she's a little talent herself so when she gets a little responsibility in the business, if she decides to go that way she's gonna know what it is when she gets my age.