T.I. and Teyana Taylor exact revenge upon evildoers in their violent, yet poignant, dual video for “You (Be There).” The video features the final two songs from T.I.’s latest album, Dime Trap, “You,” which features Taylor, and “Be There,” which features London Jae.
The “You” section opens with T.I. and Taylor reclining on a bed and watching a TV news report about a “rapist on the run.” T.I. ruminates, “There’s some people on the Earth that just don’t need to be here … Some people just deserve to die.” But instead of marinating in their misery, the musicians decide to take action — and the results are bloody.
First, they strut into a church and shoot a pastor accused of child molestation. Later, after checking into a motel room, they hear a sexual assault happening next door and decide to intervene, executing the police officer responsible for the act. Taylor, however, is shot in the chaos and dies on the scene, leaving a distraught T.I. to carry on by himself.
The “Be There” section contrasts that brutality with flashbacks to a young couple’s blossoming romance. But the clip — written by T.I. and directed by Taylor — ends with a somber flash to reality: “3,600 minors are sold into sex slavery every year in the state of Georgia,” a caption reads. “One out of every 10 sexual abuse survivors will never tell.”
T.I. released Dime Trap, his 10th studio album, last year. The rapper, who recently slammed boxer Floyd Mayweather in the diss track “Fuck Nigga,” teamed with Chance the Rapper and Cardi B for the upcoming Netflix series Rhythm + Flow, which premieres October 9th.