Tyga

Micheal Ray Stevenson (born November 19, 1989), known professionally as Tyga (a backronym for Thank You God Always), is an American rapper.

Micheal Ray Stevenson was born on November 19, 1989, in Compton, California, 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 others.

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 artist, McCoy led him to sign a recording contract with the independent label DCD2 Records (known then as Decaydence Records).

McCoy further stated that he "had [Tyga] sending me verses every other day. We started doing interviews, and he was like, 'This my big cousin Trav.' So a lot of people had the misunderstanding we were blood-related".

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.

After a number of 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.

On June 10, 2008, Tyga released his debut studio album, No Introduction through Decaydance Records and McCoy's label, BatSquad Records.

It was preceded by the single "Coconut Juice," featuring McCoy, which became his first entry on the Billboard Hot 100.

The album peaked at number 112 on the Billboard 200 and received mixed reviews.

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 appeared on the label's posse cut hit single "Bedrock" shortly after his signing.

He later released the mixtape Fan of a Fan with singer Chris Brown and producers DJ Ill Will and DJ Rockstar.

It featured other artists such as Bow Wow, Lil Wayne, and Kevin McCall featured in several tracks.

Four tracks — "Holla at Me", "G Shit", "No Bullshit" and "Deuces" — were accompanied with music videos.

A song from the album, "Diamond Life" was used in the video games Need for Speed: Undercover and Madden NFL 2009, as well as in the 2009 film Fighting.

"Deuces" was eventually included on Brown's fourth studio album, F.A.M.E. (2011).

Careless World: Rise of the Last King was his second studio album.

His 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 saw generally positive critical reception.

It spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top 40 singles "Rack City" and "Faded" (featuring Lil Wayne).

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."

Tyga's career began with him releasing a multitude of demo tapes and mixtapes.

The album was released on February 21, 2012, on Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Universal Republic Records.

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).

The track "Deuces" was released as the lead single for the mixtape and reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs; it was also nominated for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

Tyga told MTV in an interview that the mixtape's production took just short of a week.

Due to disagreements with Young Money, Tyga's fourth album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty was released independently in June 2015.

Executive-produced by 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 met with continued stagnation.

Following this, his May 2018 single, "Taste" (featuring Offset) marked a brief period of commercial resurgence, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming his first top 40 single since "Ayo" (with Chris Brown) in 2015.

It served as the lead single and preceded the release of his seventh album, Legendary (2019).