It is sad, tremendously sad. As happens so often in black neighborhoods, Phillips' father abandoned him as an infant and left his mother to raise him. It gets worse, though. Phillips apparently was kicked out of the house at 12 and, according to a piece I read on it, "left to wander the streets for a year." As a 12-year-old. Nope, not the kind of environment that promotes healthy emotional development.
Yeah, I know, some of you are thinking tough shyt, he made his own bed, which in essence he did. And yet you can't deny how these kind of domestic circumstances, which are prevalent in black communities, can lead to so many issues later on.