Master P Opens Up About Tragic Death of Daughter, Reconciling with Eldest Son (Exclusive)

Master P is still mastering fatherhood, and he’s proud of his growth.

The hit rapper-turned-University of New Orleans basketball coach is gearing up to close out his long music career with a final performance at Essence Festival of Culture in New Orleans on Sunday, July 6. This week he opened up to PEOPLE about fame, family and the challenges he’s faced as a father.

“I’m learning there’s no perfect parent and I’m still learning parenthood even though my kids are older,” says Master P, who with his ex-wife Sonya C shares son Romeo born in 1989, son Vercy born in 1991, daughter Tytyana born in 1992, daughter Inty born in 1993, daughter Itali born in 1999, son Hercy born in 2002 and son Mercy born in 2005. He’s also dad to daughter Cymphonique, born in 1996 to another partner, and he has long helped raise his late brother’s son Veno.

“At first,” he says, “I just wanted to give ’em everything. But now what I realized is I also have to be a better communicator with my kids. As parents, sometimes you think, you know what? It’s going to be my way or the highway.”

In recent years, the rapper has publicly been at odds with eldest son Romeo, with the latter at one point making claims of neglect and revealing financial issues. The brief feud came on the heels of the tragic news that Master P’s daughter Tytyana had died of an accidental fentanyl overdose in May 2022.

“You never get over that,” he says of the loss of his daughter. “Just never, but you’ve got to be able to go on. I think for me, my daughter’s my parachute. I’ve been her parachute her whole life. And our thing is, that’s where we started the You Are Not Alone Foundation to be able to help other families cope with dealing with tragedies. It’s all about us helping other kids, helping other families, and that’s what keeps us going.”

Their focus is also to keep Tytyana’s young family going. “We’re taking care of her kid, just locking in and doing the right thing. And so that’s what we are working on. It’s like, you know what? We’ve got to stop this process.”

As for his current relationship with Romeo, the two reconciled a while back and “everything is good” now, he says. “He got two beautiful girls. And to be honest, I learned a lot from my son and we learned a lot from each other. We got to grow up. And parenthood is tough, but like I said, the main word is communication.”

He continues, “You also got to be able to admit when you’re wrong — everybody sit down and get over their differences. I mean, ain’t nothing like the love I have for my son and the rest of my kids.”

When it comes to his younger ones, “What I love about these kids, I didn’t give ’em nothing. I didn’t give ’em a card until they got older, got to college and I taught ’em hard work. And I think that as parents, we got to teach our kids hard work. Don’t be afraid to learn from your kids, too, and also be able to listen. So now as a parent, I’m asking questions. I want to listen more.”

And in the wake of all they’ve been through, there’s a new family focus on mental health. “Mental illness is real. So I’ve been focusing on that to help a lot of these young people. I know a lot of trauma — losing my brother at a young age, and I’ve never dealt with that. I look at my life like, ‘Wow, I’ve never been to counseling. I never sat down and talked to people about that.’ I mean. because when you poor, you just got to deal with it.”

It’s a cycle he’s excited to break. “You Are Not Alone Foundation and Team Hope down here in New Orleans to be able to touch and help our people. My thing now is, how do we change lives?”