Putting his daughter on the cover of his Comptonfornia 2 mixtape was more than show for AD. In a recent episode of Myths Exposed, the young rapper says that he is breaking the stereotype that black men are not good fathers.
“I decided to put my daughter on the cover with me just to let people really get to know me,” he says. “Becoming a father changed my life drastically.”
AD says that growing up in Compton, California, he was heavily involved in the street life, but his daughter’s birth gave him something greater to live for.
“I was really in the streets, hanging out with the homies, you already know what comes with all that, the gang banging life and everything,” he says. “My daughter came into my life, I was like, I need to stop hustling this type of way. I need to move this type of way, so it inspired me just to get it more. As soon as she came out, I was like I gotta get it for her. I gotta be a role model. I don’t wanna be no dad that don’t provide for his kids. I probably wouldn’t be where I am right now if it wasn’t for my daughter being here.”
He explains that he has an active role in his daughter’s life and is planning on making a lifelong commitment to her. Then, she can carry the lessons she has learned from him to whatever she chooses to do as an adult herself.
“I actively take my daughter to school, pick her up, help her with her homework, spend time with her, whatever I need to do to make sure she has a good childhood,” AD continues. “I just want my daughter to get everything that I never had, give her a great childhood and set her up for life. Lack of a parent being in a child’s life can make them turn for the worst, I done seen it, so just want to make sure that I’m there for her, let her know that she’s always loved, make sure anything she needs I can provide to her. In the future, when she has a family of her own or businesses or whatever, I can be there to provide for her.”
The myth that Black men aren’t good fathers is not just a race issue, AD says, but something that can affect all aspects of humanity.
“At the end of the day, you got your good, you got your bad fathers,” he says, “just like you got good and bad people in the world.”