T.I. Says His Beef With 50 Cent Was About Protecting His Family

T.I. absolutely cooked 50 Cent with a recent barrage of diss tracks aimed at the rapper-turned-TV-mogul ... but T.I. downplayed the beef when our producer ran into him in NYC today.

We caught T.I. on the street with his wife Tiny, and when we asked Tiny about 50's posts mocking her, T.I. immediately stepped in.

"Man, that s***'s so last week, man," T.I. said. "We got the No. 1 song in the country -- 'Let 'Em Know.'"

As we reported ... this whole back and forth started when T.I. challenged 50 to a Verzuz, which 50 declined. When T.I. accused 50 of ducking him, 50 came back like he usually does -- with some trolling Instagram memes. This time, 50's posts were aimed at T.I.'s wife and his son, King.

T.I. fired back with tracks like "Right One," "Lessons" and "What Bully," but he kept it chill when talking to us.

He said, "The only thing I have to say ... It's very unfortunate but, honestly, I wasn't here to defeat, I was here to defend. I'm just happy that the women and children in my family know that there's a line of men that's ready to stand and protect from whoever, against whoever."