T.I. slams Bill O'Reilly, defends Beyoncé's 'sexy' image

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Rapper T.I. is weighing on some of the hottest topics in the music industry.

In an August 7 interview with Chris Witherspoon for MSNBC.com, T.I. addressed the ongoing feuding between female hip hop emcees including Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj and Lil’ Kim.

Minaj allegedly threw “shade” at Iggy Azalea at this year’s BET Awards during her acceptance speech for Best Female Hip Hop Artist.

And last week, Minaj caught the attention of Lil’ Kim after appearing on Beyoncé’s “Flawless” remix and delivering the line, “the queen of rap, slayin’ with Queen Bey,” prompting Lil’ Kim to release a diss record targeting Minaj titled “Identity Theft.”

T.I. said feuding in hip hop is inevitable, especially when women are involved.

“They’re women, okay. All due respect to women … but that’s what women do,” T.I. said. “You can catch women waiting on the bathroom and they are like, ‘what are you doing? I was right here first. What are you doing?’”

“I just think that it’s a competitive sport already in hip hop, and anytime that you have women who have to compete for acknowledgement in the same area … [feuding] is inevitable. But they’re women … let them handle that.”

T.I. defends his protegé Iggy Azalea: ‘Racial stereotypes in rap is wack’

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of T.I.’s collaboration with Beyoncé and Destiny’s Child for the Grammy nominated track “Soldier,” the second single from the Destiny’s Child 2004 studio album, Destiny Fulfilled.

T.I. weighed in on Beyoncé’s latest album, which sparked outrage from conservative Fox News pundit, Bill O’Reilly, who slammed the “Partition” singer for glorifying sex with her new music.

“I think Beyoncé’s a phenomenal writer, composer, performer,” T.I. explained. “Art is about expression, and if she’s feeling more sexual now, then she should be able to express that. There is a piece of paper called the constitution that protects us and that allows us to say whatever we want to say and how we feel, and that is what art is about. If [Beyoncé] was a journalist and had some journalistic creed or some kind of ethics to maintain as a journalist … or if she had a corporation or something … that’s different.”

“If you are an artist, then it should be an extension of your feelings. So whatever you feel, you should be able to say it. So Bill O’Reilly needs to stick to journalism and let Beyoncé stick to music.”

Follow theGrio.com’s Entertainment Editor Chris Witherspoon on Twitter @WitherspoonC.