It was the image he saw of himself (black men) the most as a youngin in the mainstream media.
The street thug/gangbanger/ dope boy is the most popularized and glorified type of black man globally.
It's perfectly normal now for a young black male from a good home to gravitate towards and cosplay as a "street dude " because of how popular that image is. (Think Ja Morant).
It's the culture.
it's also in his dna. what do yall think Michael would be if he hadn't made it in football? he said himself he was a criminal growing up who never got caught. he thought he was gonna get kicked outta The U his freshman yr for beating up a lineman with a lunchtray. Outside of all the other trouble he got into in Dallas he almost killed a teammate by stabbing him in the neck with a pair of scissors because dude wouldn't get outta the barber's chair for Mike.
and this is when Mike had the success and the millions already and he's out fukking up like this. genetically, his son is who his father is, and I don't recall hearing about his son playing ball like Emmitt and Deion's and them sons, so who knows how he was spending his time. Michael Irvin is my alltime favorite player but I'd bet alotta his time was spent out in hotel rooms high on cocaine with white hoes, instead of at home parenting. Mike talked about hearing his son's lyrics for the first time and being blown away at the content. Mike shoulda been aware that's what his kid what trying to be on a long time before that and had been working to steer him in a more positive direction.
most of these youngsters today wanna be rappers. i don't fault the kid for wanting to rap. it's just a shame his lyrics are on the bullshyt. dude probably never even got to hear alotta the conscious rappers that he could've patterned himself after.