Background

Ethnicity: Tyga has African-Jamaican, African-American, and Vietnamese ancestry.

Tyga was born as Michael Ray Nguyen-Stevenson on November 19, 1989, in Compton, California, the United States. He lived in Compton with his Vietnamese and Jamaican parents till the age of 11, after which they moved to Gardena, California. He claims to have been brought up in the low socioeconomic area of Compton, though there is some footage of his parents moving around in expensive cars and living a lavish lifestyle.

Education

Tyga's cousin, Travis McCoy was a member of Gym Class Heroes and he introduced Tyga to music and rap. Inspired by listening to Fabolous, Eminem, Cam'ron, and other rappers, Tyga entered rap contests with friends from school and often posted songs that he made up in online chat rooms.

Career

Travis and Tyga would appear on the remix to Fall Out Boy's Arms Race, which also featured Kanye West, Paul Wall, Skinhead Rob, Lupe Fiasco, and Lil Wayne. When the remix became a hit, Tyga found himself performing the track on MTV's Video Music Awards in 2007. He soon entered the studio to do some guest shots for his new friend Lil Wayne before shifting the focus to his solo career.

After the success of his debut mixtape Young On Probation, Tyga signed a record deal with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment. The track Deuces, which he performed with Chris Brown and Kevin McCall, was released as his debut single. The single reached number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs list. The song went on to receive a Grammy nomination for Best Rap / Sung Collaboration.

McCoy got Tyga his first record deal, sharing his music with Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy. Wentz signed him to Bat Squad records, part of his Decaydance label, and executive produced Tyga’s first album in 2008, No Introduction. His song Diamond Life got featured in the movie Fighting. It was also used in video games, such as Need for Speed: Undercover and Madden NFL 2009.

Before he made his first studio album, he made a number of mixtapes and singles that kept him in the public eye. By then, he had established himself and was recording for Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records, and Republic Records. After his initial success with Money Entertainment, he collaborated with big names like Rick Ross, Chris Brown, and Bow Wow to make a splash in the music scene.

The transformation of Tyga’s style was complete by the time of the release of his Young Money debut album, Careless World: Rise of the Last King in 2012. Its initial impact was dulled by its inclusion of an uncleared sample of Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, which meant many retail stores couldn’t stock it until it was reissued with the snippet removed. Sales were strong, however, the album debuting at No. 4 on the United States Billboard 200; featured guests included T-Pain, Pharrell, Nas, Robin Thicke, and J Cole.

In April 2013, he released his third album Hotel California. The album received mixed reviews and was referred to as "the least creative major-label rap album in recent memory." It was a tough period for Tyga as his album The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty and duet with Justin Bieber had to be put on hold as he fell out with Young Money.

In September 2016, Kanye West, the brother-in-law of his then-girlfriend Kylie Jenner, announced that Tyga had been signed with Good Music, under the aegis of Def Jam Recordings. Some saw this as the only opportunity for Tyga to redeem himself in the world of music.

In 2017, he released a series of high-profile collaborative singles, including Feel Me with Kanye West, Act Ghetto with Lil Wayne, and 100's with Chief Keef and A.E. His fifth official album, BitchI'mTheShit2 (the sequel to a 2011 mixtape), appeared in July, containing the singles featuring West and Keef as well as additional features by Vince Staples, Young Thug, Pusha T, and others.

Tyga's prolific run continued a few months later with the Bugatti Raww mixtape, followed in early 2018 by his sixth album, Kyoto. Kyoto received negative reviews from critics. It also failed to impress music lovers, putting Tyga in a spot of bother. In an attempt to revive his career, he released his next single titled Taste in 2018. Featuring Offset, the single became an instant hit. It received a 6x platinum by RIAA and helped his career get back on track.

In 2019, he issued the quick follow-up Legendary, a typically horny set that recruited guests Lil Wayne, Blueface, J Balvin, Bazzi, Chris Brown, and many more. The next year saw Tyga appearing as a guest on a series of singles from various artists, as well as releasing Freak, a collaborative song with Megan Thee Stallion.

Achievements

• 

  Tyga won the MuchMusic Video Award under the MuchVIBE Hip-Hop Video of the Year category in 2012 for his song The Motto. He received a Grammy nomination under the Best Rap / Sung Collaboration category for Deuces in 2011. He has also received nominations for BET Award, MTV Europe Music Award, American Music Award, and World Music Award.

Works

More photos

• movie

  • Once upon a Time in Venice

    (When Steve Ford's (Bruce Willis) beloved dog, Buddy, is s...)

    2017
  • Mac and Devin Go to High School

    (Rappers Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa team up to create this...)

    2012
  • Boo! A Madea Halloween

    (To avoid trouble on All Hallows' Eve, Madea and her posse...)

    2016
  • Barbershop: The Next Cut

    (It's been more than 10 years since our last appointment a...)

    2016

• music

  • No Introduction 2008
  • Careless World: Rise Of The Last King 2012
  • Hotel California 2013
  • The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty 2015
  • Bitch I'm the Shit 2 2017
  • Kyoto 2018
  • Legendary 2019
  • Fan of a Fan The Album 2015

• TV series

  • Scream: Season 3

    (In Season 3 of Scream, star running back Deion Elliot's p...)

    2019

Religion

Tyga is quite religious. He’s a Christian. He sometimes uses biblical terminology and references his faith in his raps. He even invokes God during interviews. He once said of his ascent to fame: "I truly am blessed to have such great people believing in me. I’m really lucky, and I can’t wait to get out there and make everyone proud. I just gotta stay positive, keep my faith in God and I know things will turn out great."

Politics

Tyga is a supporter of Barack Obama.

Views

Tyga has done charity work with or supported the following charities: R.O.A.R, School on Wheels, Sports Spectacular, and The Children’s Center for Cancer & Blood Diseases of Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.

Quotations: "I've always treated my career like independent. Everything that I got is because of myself, my own endorsements, my own touring myself."

"I can make any type of music, so I wouldn't want to describe myself as having one type of sound. I think music is about keeping it diverse."

Personality

Tyga has a reputation for lashing out at people when he is angry. He lashed out at Young Money Entertainment on social media for holding his album hostage. In an interview, he called rapper Drake a fake and made no bones about not liking Nicki Minaj.

Interests

• exotic animals

• Politicians

  Barack Obama

• Artists

  Olivier Rouesting

• Sport & Clubs

  Los Angeles Clippers, basketball

• Music & Bands

  Lil Wayne, Michael Jackson, Basta Rhymes, Eminem, Fabolous

Connections

Tyga has had a number of affairs. His first relationship was with Kiely Williams in 2006, followed by a brief relationship with Chanel Iman in 2009. In 2010, he was briefly married to Jordan Craig. Tyga has a son named King Cairo Stevenson with Blac Chyna, who appeared in his video Rack City. Cairo was born in October 2012, after which the couple got engaged and moved to a mansion in Calabasas, California. However, the relationship ended in 2014.

In 2014, he started dating reality star, Kylie Jenner. Their on-again, off-again relationship went sour and ended in 2017 due to a considerable age difference between the two. Kylie was just 16 when they started dating, while he was in his mid-20s.

ex-girlfriend:

Kylie Jenner

In September 2014, Tyga commenced dating the reality TV personality, Kylie Jenner. They had briefly split in November 2015 but got back together soon after that. The duo finally called it quits in March 2017.

ex-girlfriend:

Blac Chyna

On October 5, 2011, Tyga met the American model Blac Chyna at Chris Brown and Bow Wow’s party in the Miami Strip Club named King Of Diamonds. Because of Blac’s busy schedule, the couple wasn’t spending much time together, but however, they managed to establish a relationship that officially started on November 9, 2011.

On December 11, 2012, Tyga and Blac decided to go even further by getting engaged, 2 months after the birth of their child King Cairo (born, October 16, 2012). The couple remained together until August 12, 2014, when they officially separated.

ex-girlfriend:

Kiely Williams

In June 2006, Tyga started dating the American singer Kiely Williams. They partied for 2 years until June 2008 when they decided to split up.

ex-girlfriend:

Chanel Iman

Tyga met the American model Chanel Iman in March 2009. The couple spent 3 months together before they parted ways in June 2009.

ex-wife:

Jordan Craig

Tyga and the American model, Jordan Craig commenced dating in June 2010. The duo spent a year together when they decided that it’s best for them to separate.

Son:

King Cairo Stevenson

Acquaintance:

Kim Kardashian

Acquaintance:

Kourtney Kardashian

Acquaintance:

Khloé Kardashian

References

• Tyga on Instagram