A Jamie Foster Brown interview
(excerpted from the March 2009 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine) 

She’s long been accustomed to the glamorous life: Money wasn’t new to Tiny when she met T.I. She’s even had her man go off to jail before. But it’s different this time. Now Tiny is bracing herself for the day, which is right upon her, that the love of her life, T.I., goes off to serve a longer sentence: a year and a day in prison for possession of unregistered machine guns and silencers and possession of firearms by a convicted felon.

How will she do her time while his time ticks down?

Tiny got on the phone while our video camera rolled in her Atlanta nail salon, Tiny’s Nail Bar, and she talked to Jamie (who was in her farmhouse in Maryland) about her plans. Will she reunite with the R&B group that everybody wants to come back, Xscape? Will she just chill with at home, raising her and T.I.’s six kids? How will she and T.I. prepare the kids for what’s coming? Will she and T.I. tie the knot?

Maybe all of that, maybe none of that.

Here’s Tiny. Let’s find out what’s on her mind at this momentous time in her and Tip’s life.

***
Tiny: Hey, how are you doing?

Jamie: I’m good. Happy New Year, honey. Did you have a good one?
Tiny: I did, yeah.

Jamie: What did you do?
Tiny: I was in Miami for the New Year.

Jamie: You took the kids down there?
Tiny: No, I wanted to but we didn’t stay long, and Tip said he was going to do a turnaround, so we just left and came right back.

Jamie: Did you all dance?
Tiny: Well, he had a show. We didn’t do a lot of dancing.

Jamie: Okay. How are baby Major and all the babies doing?
Tiny: Major and the babies are doing great.

Jamie: Are y’all raising five or six?
Tiny: We got six.

Jamie: How old is Major now?
Tiny: Major is 7 months.

Jamie: Does he have personality yet? He’s still real young.
Tiny: Yeah, but he’s the sweetest baby yet that I think I’ve had.

Jamie: Why do you say that?
Tiny: I mean, I could say he’s a good baby. He doesn’t do a lot of crying, and he’s fat and he’s so lovable, and he’s just great.

Jamie: I’ve got to see all of them. I saw a couple of them at the shower. The little girl was there, right?
Tiny: Right, Deyjah and Zonnique—the two girls were there.

Jamie: Do you think you all will have more kids?
Tiny: I don’t think so. I’m not saying that, but not right now.

Jamie: Have you explained to the kids that T.I. will be gone for a year?
Tiny: No, not yet. I think I’m going to let him start off with that and then I will, if need be, join in. But I’m going to let him handle that.

Jamie: Right. But what would you say? They know something happened there. When he was under house arrest, did they know anything then?
Tiny: Yeah, the older kids did, but the younger kids, they still don’t really—as far as the 4-year-old, he doesn’t really know what’s going on. They don’t really talk about it and they don’t seem like they’re bothered by it yet, but I guess when the time comes, and it’s getting close, then he will sit them down and let them know what’s going on and what we’re going to be looking forward to and how we’re going to handle it.

Jamie: He’s gone a lot, but T.I. also is home a lot too, right? He’s very involved with his children, right?
Tiny: Yeah, when he is gone, he’s gone, but he’s back and forth. Before he was in this trouble, he was gone most all the time, but now, everything has to be set on a schedule. So schedule-wise it’s, like, pretty much in the middle now, as far as him being home and him being gone.

Jamie: Are you with him more now than before all this trouble happened?
Tiny: Actually, no; I’m with him less now that the trouble happened. I’m more at home now just with the kids. We’re going out of town today and I’m going with him, back to Los Angeles, but I’m mostly at home.

 

Read more about how Tiny is preparing for time without T.I. when you check out the rest of her interview in the March 2009 issue of Sister 2 Sister magazine.

 

 

Photo by Jeff Christensen/AP