T.I.'s Road to Redemption

T.I.’s Road to Redemption is an MTV Networks reality show that follows hip hop star T.I. as he works to encourage a small group of young people to stay out of trouble and turn their lives around.

MTV features a variety of reality shows.

The backdrop to the show is T.I.’s own legal trouble. The show aired in the weeks leading up to the musician’s sentencing on federal weapons charges. The final episodes gave viewers a look into T.I.’s own troubled past, his life as a musician and his attempts to prepare his own family for his impending jail term. An episode of the show also depicted the day of the sentencing and captured T.I’.s reaction to his fate.

Each episode of T.I.’s Road to Redemption focused on the story of a young person. The cast was as follows:

Pee Wee is an Atlanta teenager with a background similar to T.I. He dropped out of high school and was involved in crime in an attempt to support his family. T.I. takes Pee Wee to a jail and has the officers put him in a cell to give him an idea of what life would be like if he got arrested. Then, T.I. took him to a mortuary to give him a wake up call about the real dangers of the life he was leading. When Pee Wee confessed that he wanted to be an actor, T.I. ran lines from Romeo and Juliet with him. T.I. later surprised Pee Wee with a trip to Los Angeles and acting lessons.

Pee Wee initially gave up his criminal activities and concentrated on his acting, but during the reunion episode of the show, viewers found out that Pee Wee had recently been shot. He refused to discuss the details of his shooting.

Trey is a 15 year old from a small town in Georgia who was beginning to dabble in gang activity. His father and brother are in prison, and he was beginning to head into a life of crime and violence. T.I. took Trey through the neighborhoods he grew up in and took him to the grave of a friend who had recently died in a nightclub fight. Trey was largely unfazed but it all, until T.I. introduced Trey to his uncle, who had spent 10 years in prison. T.I.’s uncle convinced Trey that he was on a path that could only end in death or jail.

Trey turned his life around, brought up his grades and by the reunion special was aiming to be the first man in his family to graduate from college.

Anthony is an 18 year old member of the Crips. T.I. headed out to California to convince Anthony that his gang involvement was the wrong path but discovered the job was going to be more difficult than he thought when he found out that Anthony’s mother’s boyfriend is a highly ranked member of the Crips himself. T.I. takes Anthony to meet a former gang member who is now wheelchair bound thanks to a bullet wound and another gang member who explains the difficulties Anthony would face in prison.

Anthony tells T.I. of his past experience in culinary school, so T.I. gives him a chance to prepare a meal in an upscale restaurant. After T.I. leaves, he sends Anthony some kitchen equipment to get him going on the right track. At the reunion, viewers find that Anthony now works as a prep chef and is attending culinary school.

Edwin is an Atlanta teenager who ran away from home him with his girlfriend. They have one child together, and Edwin was robbing houses to raise money for the family. T.I. tries to convince Edwin to find more positive ways to support his family and introduced him to a single mother raising her child alone because the father went to prison for burglary. At the reunion show, it was revealed that Edwin had earned his GED and was hoping for an internship at T.I.’s label.

Viewers may also recognize Edwin from an appearance on the Tyra show, where he was seeking help for abusing his girlfriend.

Mario is a Compton, CA, based gang member with a history of involvement in gun violence. T.I. took Mario to meet various former gang members and families who have been affected by gun crime. He then went on a ride along with paramedics to watch them treat shooting victims. Mario was one of T.I.’s hardest cases, and he was absent from the reunion.

Rather than staging an intervention, T.I. entered Donald’s life to reward him for staying strong in the face of adversity. Because of drug and alcohol abuse problems, Donald’s mother had lost custody of him at a young age, and he spent most of his life growing up in the system. He kept his grades up and stayed out of trouble, and for that T.I. wanted to reward him. Donald got a new wardrobe and a chance to record with one of T.I.’s producers.

Cynthia is a 15 year old Californian who is involved in gang activity in the hopes of avenging her brother’s death. T.I. stepped in and took her to a mortuary to give her a reality check about what her mother would have to deal with if she were to die because of her gang involvement. He also took her to meet some former gang members who talked to her about the dangers of the lifestyle. At the reunion, viewers discovered that Cynthia has left the gang and is focusing on her education and goal of becoming a photographer.

On the last episode of the show, T.I. is sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison. Many of the show’s cast were in the courtroom to see the verdict come down. The show wraps with T.I. and his family making plans to cope with his absence.

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