Matthew Lawrence – Rozonda ‘Chilli’ Thomas (Getty)
*Tron Austin, the son of Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas of TLC fame, says he supports his mother’s relationship with actor Matthew Lawrence.
“Oh man, I just like seeing her happy, you know? As someone who is now five years into my relationship, I love seeing humans connect and witnessing that genuineness. I feel that from him,” said Austin in a new interview with PEOPLE.
The 25-year-old, who is married to Jeong Ah Wang, is following in the musical footsteps of his famous parents. Austin’s father is music producer Dallas Austin. The young artist currently appears in the new Paramount+ series “Family Legacy,” which features the children of legendary music artists and bands “reliving some of entertainment’s most iconic moments and giving viewers an intimate look at their favorite artists,” per the synopsis.
Speaking to PEOPLE, Austin shared his thoughts about his famous mother dating a former child star.
“We’ve only met a couple of times because they’re really building their relationship since she’s very careful about that kind of stuff,” said Austin of Matthew Lawrence. He also noted that Chilli’s willingness to go public with this relationship “shows me that this is a very special person in her life.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Austin recalled traveling with his mother and being on the road with TLC when he was younger.
“I think honestly some of my favorite memories are just seeing them in their zone,” Austin said. “Because I see the rehearsals too, right? So they’ve rehearsed to like 8, 12 hours a day, working like dogs, man. And I would see that all that hard work comes to fruition whenever they do the shows, and there’s 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, whatever the stadium is.”
He added, “It’s like they’re just doing their thing, and everyone’s all in; for me to take that in was inspiring for me, both as an artist myself and as an aspiring father.”
When it comes to his music career… in order to prove to his parents that he is serious about it, Austin put together an EP.
“I produced everything, I wrote everything, and I gave it to my parents, kind of letting them know that this is what I want to do in life. And since then, finding myself as an artist was probably the biggest hurdle because, alright, you come from that, but you really have to be yourself and do it for yourself,” he said.
“So that’s the biggest thing I’ve taken away from the experience as an individual, that trying to become your own artist requires a lot of time, patience, and finding yourself,” Austin continued.
READ MORE: TLC’s Chilli on Whether She’ll Marry Matthew Lawrence: ‘I Hope So’| WATCH
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