103.9 FM WDKX
Rochester, NY
Your #1 Radio for R&B
On air:
Listen Online
103.9 WDKX Live Stream
REQUEST A SONG!
Request A Song
The Dean's List - When Reality TV Goes Good
Last night, MTV debuted "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go," which chronicles the rapper's attempts to help others avoid the mistakes he's made in the past. Not being a big fan of Reality television (enter in For The Love of Ray J), I usually watch the first couple of episodes to see what it's all about. I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw.
As all of you know, T.I. was arrested last year for having machine guns. He will begin to serve his one year, one day sentence next month. Prior to him going to jail, he must complete 1000 hours of community service. "T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go", is part of that service.
Some may say that he is getting paid to do his community service by appearing on a television show. I thought the same thing myself. But after watching the show last night, I've changed my mind.
Since it was the first show, a lot of time was spent giving the back story on how T.I. ended up in this situation. He talked about the murder of his best friend, Philant Johnson and what it was like calling out the names of the people in the van. After the gunfire ceased, he called out everyone's names, but Philant was the only one who didn't answer. It explains why he was paranoid and needed to buy the guns to protect him self, though he never once used that situation or any others as an excuse.
The show also shows how dedicated T.I. is as a father - something we are not shown much of these days.
The main premise of the show is for T.I. to reach out to 7 at risk teenagers and help them to turn their lives around. T.I. uses his knowledge of the streets and what he has learned from all of the wrong he has done as lessons for these young men.
Enter in - Pee Wee, an 18-year-old from Atlanta dropped out of school and like T.I. was the man of his household from when he was a young boy. He has since picked up a life of hustling to make a profit for his family.
T.I. walked into Pee Wee's house and gave him the surprise of his life. After chatting for awhile, they went for a ride. One on one, T.I. got into Pee Wee's head as he drove him to their first destination - Jail.
While they were riding, the police stopped their vehicle. They pulled Pee Wee out of the car, frisked him, hand-cuffed him and took him to the police station. Once they took his mug shot pictures, they locked him in a cell. At first, Pee Wee was fine - that was until T.I. left the building. When Pee Wee realized he was alone, he began to get scared and started yelling out, "T.I.P., T.I., Mr. Harris - get me out of here!"
T.I. eventually showed up to get Pee Wee out of jail. He then took him to a local mortuary. There were several corpses there. The main one was a young man who T.I. referred to as a local hustler who was gunned down. Pee Wee really wasn't feeling being there and tried to look away. T.I. grabbed his face and forced him to look at the young man as he lay in his casket. Pee Wee was visibly shaken.
During their entire journey, T.I. shared stories about his life and what Pee Wee needed to do to be successful. T.I. went back a few weeks later to check on Pee Wee's progress. Pee Wee had stopped hustling and had enrolled in school. T.I. gave him an envelope with a note saying how proud he was of him and some money to help out with the bills.
This is a show that you don't want to miss. Parents - watch it with your children. If you don't have kids and you know of a child that needs some guidance, go and pick them up next Tuesday night and watch it with them.
"T.I.'s Road to Redemption: 45 Days to Go," has made the Dean's List. Watch trailer here:
Write the Dean's List with your thoughts: thedeanslist1@gmail.com
