The hardest lyrics Offset ever wrote
For his first ever album as a solo artist, Migos member Offset, who has recently been hospitalised following a shooting in Florida, got personal.
The record, Father of 4, was released in early 2019, which was a period when he was having problems with his now-ex-wife Cardi B. Cardi’s presence is felt very keenly on Father of 4, as is the presence of his kids.
Cardi and Offset shared only one child when Father of Four came out, with two more arriving in the years after it dropped. But Offset already had three other kids from previous relationships at the time. Hence the “4” kids referenced in the album’s title.
Offset revealed a new side of himself through his lyrics on Father of Four. He presented his vulnerabilities to listeners, with the lyrics of the title track being especially open. On ‘Father of 4,’ he directly addresses one of his daughters, Kalea, by name, admitting that he “missed the first years of your life” because, initially, he didn’t “really know if I was your father.”
During an interview with Billboard promoting the album, Set admitted that the lyrics of ‘Father of 4’ were among the most difficult he’d ever had to write. Kalea was the first of his daughters to be born, and he regretted “not really having a relationship with her or knowing her mom well.”
“The situation was a tight situation for me,” he admitted, “but I had to step up, like I said in the song. How it happened was a little rockstar-ish, but I still faced it. I wasn’t there for some time, but I faced it, and I’m there now.”
Set was happy that he was in Kalea’s life now, but the lyrics to the song were nonetheless “the hardest bars” he’d ever had to come up with. This was a song dealing with the lives of real people, and he was eager to avoid upsetting them. He believed that he managed to do that, claiming that he “didn’t offend anyone” and stating that he appreciated “how the people took” being addressed on his album.
On the other hand, Kalea’s mother, Shya L’amour, did actually call out Offset on her Instagram in the wake of Father of 4’s release. She hit back at Set’s portrayal of events within his music, claiming that Set had consciously decided not to be involved in his daughter’s life at first.
“You CHOSE not to see bout her,” she posted on Instagram. “You CHOSE to remain ignorant!”