T.I. says he made a powerful statement to Jay Z last year on the tenth anniversary of Jigga’s The 40/40 Club.

“I said, ‘Man. Doe B is the Southern Biggie,’ T.I. says in a video published on Hustle Gang’s YouTube page. “And the man looked at me. He took his glasses off and said, ‘What did you say?’ I said, ‘I said he’s the Southern Biggie.’ He said, ‘Don’t say that.’ I said, ‘Why not say that? You’re saying the South don’t deserve a Biggie.’ He said, ‘You thought about this, didn’t you?’”

Doe B, whose Definition Of A Trapper 3 mixtape is slated to be released tomorrow (April 1), was shot and killed in December 2013. Jason McWilliams turned himself in for the shooting December 29 and was reportedly being held at the Montgomery County Detention facility without bond.

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

On January 1, a second arrest was made regarding the shooting of Doe B, which also resulted in the deaths of 21-year-old Troy University student Kimberle Johnson and of Tim Hamilton, 20. The second suspect, 25-year-old Darius Thomas, was charged with two counts of capital murder.

Funeral services for rapper Doe B were held in Montgomery, Alabama January 4.

According to news released by the Montgomery Advertiser, separate services were held in the same venue for both Doe B and Johnson.

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

In addition to words delivered by Doe B’s mother, his manager, DJ Frank White, and T.I. both spoke at the funeral.

“I knew how much love the city and state had for him,” White reportedly said. “They saw the bright future he had.”

Speaking to the crowd at the True Divine Baptist Church in Montgomery, T.I. eulogized the 22-year-old rapper, whose given name is Glenn Thomas.

HipHopDX | Rap & Hip Hop News | Ad Placeholder
AD

AD LOADING...

AD

“I’m up here to celebrate the life of a young man whose path I crossed a little over a year ago,” he said. “I admired Doe because, as a young man at the age that he was, he always presented himself to be more mature. It’s very rare that you could find somebody at the age of 20 or 21 and sit them down in front of somebody they aspire to be like and they are as composed and poised and postured and looking eye to eye with this person. It’s very rare that you find somebody at the age of 20 or 21 and you could walk them into the room with a Nelly, or you could walk them into a room with a Timbaland or Jay Z, and they not lose their cool. They’re composed, postured, with the morals, standards, and the principles that were instilled in him from his family, his mom, his dad, grandmama, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles.”

RELATED: T.I. Speaks At Doe B’s Funeral