T.I. accompanies his daughter to the gynaecologist every year to check she’s still a virgin.
The 39-year-old rapper doesn’t mind discussing sex with 18-year-old Deyjah Imani Harris, but he doesn’t want her to get frisky with anyone just yet and goes with her to her consultant every 12 months to make sure her hymen – a thin piece of mucosal tissue that surrounds or partially covers the external vaginal opening – is still in tact.
Speaking on the ‘Ladies Like Us’ podcast, T.I. – whose songs often feature lyrics about sex – said: "I will say as of her 18th birthday, her hymen is still intact. Deyjah’s 18, just graduated high school now and she’s attending her first year of college, figuring it out for herself. And yes, not only have we had the conversation [about sex], we have yearly trips to the gynaecologist to check her hymen.
"So it’s this one time we go, I think this might have been after her 16th birthday. This is what we do. Right after the birthday we celebrate. Usually like the day after the party, she’s enjoying her gifts. I put a sticky note on the door: "Gyno. Tomorrow. 9:30.
"So we’ll go and sit down and the doctor will come and talk and the doctor’s maintaining a high level of professionalism. He’s like, ‘Well, you know sir, I have to, in order to share information’ — I’m like, ‘Deyjah, they want you to sign this … so we can share information. Is there anything you would not want me to know?’ ‘See doc? No problem.’
"So then they come and say, ‘Well, I just want you to know that there are other ways besides sex that the hymen can be broken, like bike riding, athletics, horseback riding, and just other forms of athletic physical activity.’
"So I say, ‘Look doc, she don’t ride no horses, she don’t ride no bike, she don’t play no sports. Just check the hymen please and give me back my results expeditiously.’ "
And, although his comments raised a few eyebrows, T.I. thinks his daughter will thank him for how protective he was when she’s older.
He explained: "I think that most kids in hindsight, looking back, they always thank their parents for not allowing them to damage themselves as much as they could have."
T.I. also has three-year-old daughter Heiress, as well as sons Messiah, 19, Domani, 18, Clifford, 15, and Major, 11.