Tyga facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Tyga
Tyga in 2019
Born	Michael Ray Stevenson (1989-11-19) November 19, 1989 (age 35) Compton, California, U.S.
Other names	T-Raww
Occupation	Rapper songwriter actor
Years active	2004–present
Works	Discography filmography
Spouse(s)	Jordan Craig ​ ​ (m. 2010; div. 2011)​
Partner(s)	Blac Chyna (2011–2014) Kylie Jenner (2015–2017)
Children	1
Relatives	Travie McCoy (cousin)
Awards	Full list
Musical career
Origin	Gardena, California, U.S.
Genres	West Coast hip hop
Labels	Columbia Last Kings EMPIRE GOOD Interscope Cash Money Young Money Republic G.E.D Inc. Decaydance

Michael Ray Stevenson (born November 19, 1989), known professionally as Tyga (/ˈtaɪɡə/; a backronym for Thank You God Always), is an American rapper. After several independent releases, he signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money Records and Republic Records in 2008. His second album and major label debut, Careless World: Rise of the Last King (2012), peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was met with critical praise. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Rack City", as well as the top 40 single "Faded" (featuring Lil Wayne). His third album, Hotel California (2013), was met with trailing critical and commercial response, along with his collaborative album with singer Chris Brown, Fan of a Fan: The Album (2015).

Due to disagreements with Young Money, Tyga's fourth album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty (2015), was released independently. Executive-produced by his then-common law relative Kanye West, it became his lowest-selling album to that point with estimated sales of 5,000 album equivalent units in its first week. His fifth and sixth albums, BitchImTheShit2 (2017) and Kyoto (2018), were both met with continued stagnation. His May 2018 single, "Taste" (featuring Offset), marked a brief period of commercial resurgence; it became his first top 40 single since 2015's "Ayo" (with Chris Brown)—peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100—and received diamond certification by the RIAA. It served as lead single and preceded the release of his seventh album, Legendary (2019).

Early life

Michael Ray Nguyen-Stevenson was born in Compton, California, on November 19, 1989, and raised there until he "was about 11, 12", before moving to adjacent Gardena. He was born to Jamaican and Vietnamese parents. His mother was born in Vietnam and has the maiden name Nguyen. He grew up listening to Fabolous, Lil Wayne, Cam'ron and Eminem among many others.

On December 3, 2012, debate arose concerning Tyga's upbringing. Tyga claimed to have been brought up in the low socioeconomic area of Compton, but in leaked footage from the unaired television show Bustas, he claimed he grew up in a "well-to-do" home in the Valley, where his parents drove a Range Rover. He also claimed that he attained his nickname from his mother calling him Tiger Woods. There has been speculation that his claims on the show were satirical and not to be taken seriously. Tyga responded to the video's leak on Twitter: "When u 14 an ambitious u don't give a fuk about anything. Scripted tv isn't that what we all live for. Hahahaha."

Career

2007–2010: No Introduction and mixtapes

Tyga's career began with him releasing a multitude of demo tapes and mixtapes. His 2007 debut mixtape, Young On Probation, garnered the attention of fellow California rapper and Gym Class Heroes lead vocalist, Travie McCoy. Seeing talent in the young artist, McCoy offered him a record deal with the independent label DCD2 Records (known then as Decaydence Records). Tyga also formed the record label G.E.D. Inc. (Grinding every day, Getting every dollar, or Getting educated daily) around the time, the same imprint that helped launch the career of fellow West Coast rapper Schoolboy Q, with whom he's worked with early in his career. Tyga also has a G.E.D. Inc tattoo above his right eyebrow.

On June 10, 2008, Tyga released his debut independent album, No Introduction, on Decaydance Records. The album was preceded by the single "Coconut Juice", featuring McCoy. One of the songs from this album, "Diamond Life", was used in the video games Need for Speed: Undercover and Madden NFL 2009, as well as in the 2009 movie Fighting.

In late 2008, Tyga signed a new record deal with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, which was a subsidiary of Cash Money Records at the time. Tyga met Wayne at the 2008 VMA's, performing the remix of Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race". He was first featured on the song "Bedrock" by Young Money soon after signing to the label. He later released the mixtape Fan of a Fan with singer Chris Brown and producers DJ Ill Will and DJ Rockstar. It features other artists such as Bow Wow, Lil Wayne, and Kevin McCall featured in several tracks. Four tracks are also accompanied by music videos. The track "Deuces" was released as the lead single of the mixtape and reached No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs by August 26, 2010. The track has also been nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 53rd Grammy Awards. The track, among others, was on the track list of Chris Brown's fourth studio album, F.A.M.E.. Tyga also told MTV in an interview that the mixtape's production took just short of a week.

2011–2012: Careless World: Rise of the Last King

Careless World: Rise of the Last King was his second studio album. The album was released on February 21, 2012, on Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Republic Records. Careless World: Rise of the Last King is a move to the rapping style he featured in the collaboration album We Are Young Money rather than the poppy dance element exemplified on his previous effort, No Introduction. Tyga stated that the album shows he has grown up but still relates to the kids. In preparation for the album, Tyga released the mixtape #BitchImTheShit in December 2011.

The first official single, "Far Away", was released on May 17, 2011, and peaked at 86 on the Billboard Hot 100. The second official single, "Still Got It", was released on October 4, 2011, and peaked at 89 on the Billboard Hot 100. The third official single, "Rack City", was released on December 6, 2011. It was originally listed on Tyga's Well Done 2 mixtape, and was added to the album after it gained commercial success. It debuted at number 94 on the Billboard Hot 100, and has peaked at number 8 since then. The fourth official single, "Faded", was released on January 13, 2012. It peaked on the Hot 100 at No. 33.

Tyga's sixth single, "Do My Dance" which features 2 Chainz was released on October 2, 2012, and peaked at No. 79 on the Billboard Hot 100. He has released various mixtapes such as well-acclaimed #BitchImTheShit and Well Done 3.

2012–2013: Hotel California

Tyga in 2013

Tyga's third studio album, Hotel California, was released on April 9, 2013. Tyga performed at Harvard University's Yardfest in the Spring of 2013, despite opposition from critics who've signed a petition seeking to keep him away over what they call his "violently misogynistic lyrics". At this time, Tyga collaborated with singer Sabi on her song "Cali Love".

Hotel California was released on April 9, 2013. The album featured guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Game, Wiz Khalifa, Future and Jadakiss. Along with production by Cool & Dre, D. A. Doman, DJ Mustard, Detail, Mars of 1500 or Nothin', The Olympicks, and SAP among others. The album was supported by three official singles along with the promotional single "Molly". The album was met with generally mixed reviews from music critics. It also was less successful than his debut album commercially, debuting at number seven on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 54,000 copies in the United States.

2013–2015: The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty

On August 27, 2013, Tyga released a new single with DJ Mustard, "Throw It Up". It was also revealed that he was working on two new mixtapes, Black Thought 3 and Well Done 4, as well as The Gold Album. On October 21, 2013, Tyga premiered "Wait for a Minute" featuring Justin Bieber. It was released to iTunes the following day. He then confirmed that an album would be released in early 2014. He also explained that the album would, be more "way less commercial". He also said "I felt like Hotel California was more commercial and I made more radio-type records. This album is straight rap."

On May 1, 2014, Tyga made a tweet referring to Kanye West, Mike Dean, and his own producer Jess Jackson with a hash-tag The Gold Album. Kanye West served as the executive producer for the album, which was slated for release on November 18, 2014. Tyga was also featured on Chris Brown's single "Loyal", he was featured on the video version, the song since then peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Hot 100. On May 28, 2014, Tyga released a new song entitled "Real Deal" via SoundCloud. "Real Deal" was later released on iTunes on August 1, 2014. On September 12, 2014, Tyga announced via his instagram that his new single titled "40 Mill" would be produced by Kanye West, Mike Dean, Dupri and his own producer Jess Jackson, artwork, The release date was not revealed though. The album was set to have features from Justin Bieber, Young Thug, Kanye West, Chris Brown, and Drake. Tyga criticized Drake in an October 2014 interview, calling Drake "fake" and said that he did not like Nicki Minaj.

On October 21, 2014, Tyga lashed out on his record label Young Money Entertainment, reporting that his album was completed, but that his music was being "held hostage" by the label, who would not allow him to release it, and stated that he was considering leaking the album. On December 4, 2014, Tyga made a tweet declaring his project, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty would be released independently due to not being on good terms with label Cash Money Records. In February 2015, Tyga released a collaborative album with Chris Brown, titled "Fan of a Fan: The Album. Supported by the #21 peaking Billboard single "Ayo", the album peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 200 and featured guest appearances from 50 Cent, T.I., Pusha T, Wale, Ty Dolla Sign, Schoolboy Q, Boosie Badazz, and Fat Trel. On June 23, 2015, Tyga released The Gold Album for streaming exclusively on Spotify then later on Apple Music. The album became his worst selling album to date, selling roughly 2,000 units on its opening week.

His reality show Kingin' with Tyga premiered on July 24, 2015, on MTV2.

2016–2017: Signing to GOOD Music and BitchImTheShit2

On September 7, 2016, Kanye West, who, like Tyga, was in a relationship to a Kardashian at the time, announced that he had signed Tyga to his GOOD Music imprint, under the aegis of Def Jam Recordings.

On July 17, 2017, it was announced that Tyga will join as a series regular in the third season of the VH1 slasher television series Scream. He starred in the role of Jamal Elliot. The season premiered on July 8, 2019.

On July 21, 2017, Tyga released his fifth studio album, BitchImTheShit2, the sequel to his 2011 mixtape #BitchImTheShit.

2018–present: Kyoto, commercial resurgence, Legendary and NSFW

Tyga in 2018

On February 16, 2018, Tyga released his sixth studio album, Kyoto. The album was panned by critics and sold poorly, becoming his first album to fail to chart anywhere.

On May 16, 2018, Tyga released the single "Taste" featuring Offset of Migos. The song was a hit, becoming one of the biggest songs of summer 2018 and peaking at number 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100. It marked Tyga's first entry on the Hot 100 in three years, since 2015's Ride Out, and is certified 9× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The song is considered the catalyst for Tyga's return to the mainstream music spotlight after almost 5 years of poor sales and negative reviews, being considered his "comeback" record.

Following the success of "Taste", Tyga released a number of other singles throughout the latter of 2018, beginning with "Swish", which was certified gold, and later released "Dip" featuring Nicki Minaj, which was certified platinum. He was also featured on Iggy Azalea's platinum single, "Kream". Tyga's seventh album Legendary was released in June 2019.

In 2019, YG released the single "Go Loko", which featured Tyga. He stated, "We wanted to do something different to kinda try to bring all Latins together" and "Even YG could tell you, he grew up around all Mexicans, so we really wanted to do something to give back to the culture."

In July 2020, Tyga partnered with businessman Robert Earl to launch a virtual kitchen brand called Tyga Bites, which uses existing restaurants' kitchens to produce branded menu items such as boneless chicken wings for delivery service only.

In 2021, Tyga competed on the sixth season of The Masked Singer as "Dalmatian". He was the first of Group B to be eliminated.

In 2024, he announced his eighth album, titled NSFW (short for "Not Safe for Work"). It's scheduled to be released on January 31, 2025.

Personal life

On September 6, 2010, Tyga married Jordan Craig. He filed for divorce one month later, and it was finalized in 2011.

Tyga met model Blac Chyna on October 5, 2011, at The F.A.M.E Tour After Party with Chris Brown at King of Diamonds in Miami. Blac Chyna was cast as Tyga's leading lady in his "Rack City" music video. They became engaged on November 9, 2011, and posed for the cover of Urban Ink magazine in March 2012. On October 16, 2012, their son, named King Cairo, was born, and Tyga purchased a $6.5 million mansion in Calabasas, California that same month. Both parents have tattoos of their son's name. The couple split in 2014.

After months of speculation, Tyga confirmed his relationship with reality star Kylie Jenner in August 2015. Photos of him and Jenner first seen holding hands in Mexico went viral a few days after her 18th birthday. The couple split in April 2017.

Tyga dated British social model Demi Rose for a short time in 2016.

In 2021, he was in a relationship with Camaryn Swanson. In 2023, Tyga dated Canadian singer Avril Lavigne.

Robbery

In June 2008, Tyga was robbed of his jewelry by unknown assailants. A pair of diamond chains would end up in the hands of local rapper 40 Glocc, who showed them off in an online video. Tyga would eventually admit to the robbery, but said 40 Glocc wasn't behind it.

Discography

Studio albums

• No Introduction (2008)
• Careless World: Rise of the Last King (2012)
• Hotel California (2013)
• The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty (2015)
• BitchImTheShit2 (2017)
• Kyoto (2018)
• Legendary (2019)
• NSFW (2025)

Collaborative albums

• Fan of a Fan: The Album (with Chris Brown) (2015)
• Hit Me When U Leave the Klub: The Playlist (with YG) (2023)

Tours

Opening act

• Between the Sheets Tour (with Chris Brown and Trey Songz) (2015)

• Pink Friday 2 World Tour (with Nicki Minaj) (2024)

Filmography

Awards and nominations

See also

In Spanish: Tyga para niños