Though T.I. and Shawty Lo have kept relatively quiet as of late about their dispute, neither man has taken direct action in burying the beef. Stopping by 103 Jamz radio in Norfolk, Virginia, T.I. attempted the task through dismissal of the situation, though his method worked in condescending jabs here and there.
Wanting to step back from the problem, T.I. put the “Bankhead” accusations into context, and then immediately refuted them. “I’ve been out for nine years, [Paper Trail] is my sixth album. If any of these claims had any validity to them, wouldn’t it have been said by now? I mean, if he felt like this, why didn’t he say this when he was promoting ‘Laffy Taffy’?”
With “Laffy Taffy” and “Dey Know” as Shawty Lo’s high points in his career, T.I. clearly has the upper hand in the success category, to which he corresponds to certain characteristics in each rapper. “In life we all have positions to play, and I’ve accepted my position in life as a winner, as a leader, as the example. The one who sets the standard of how to do things, and how to do things correctly.” Coming full circle with his compare-contrast model, T.I. continued, “I’ve accepted his position as being a hater. And if I don’t win, he can’t hate. So I’ma do my job, so he can continue to do his.”
Summing up his status in the Shawty Lo beef, T.I. was calm and direct on his ending thought. “I’ve addressed it, I’ve acknowledged it, I’ve demolished it, and now I must dismiss it.”
