Tyga
Tyga
Micheal Ray Stevenson, known by his stage name Tyga, is an American rapper. In 2011, Tyga signed a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records. His major label debut Careless World: Rise of the Last King, includes the singles "Rack City", "Faded" featuring fellow Young Money artist Lil Wayne, "Far Away" featuring Chris Richardson, "Still Got It" featuring Drake, and "Make It Nasty". He released his third album Hotel California, on April 9, 2013, and...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRapper
Date of Birth19 November 1989
CityCompton, CA
CountryUnited States of America
When I started getting into West Coast rap - The Game, then I started studying a lot of Tupac [Shakur] and watching his interviews.
The first rap album I bought was Eminem's The Slim Shady LP so I wasn't even based on West Coast rap like that.
I've always been into dressing and being stylish because I feel like that's where I gained a lot of my confidence and swag as a rapper, so fashion goes hand-in-hand with music to me.
I've always been a fan of music. I would say I'm a fan of late '90s to early 2000s rap. That's where I get all my inspiration from.
I'm just trying different styles and switching it up, but getting back to rap and the essence and the swag that I brought to the game from records like "Rack City" and "Faded," records like that. I got some good collaborations that people are gonna be excited about.
Even though Prince wasn't rapping and it was a whole different era, it shows how artists expressed themselves without saying too much, and that was the real beauty of the art.
I didn't get into Tupac [Shakur] until a little later, once I started understanding rap and people's stories. Eminem was the first rapper that I actually started dissecting the lyrics, and once I got attached to his stories, then I started listening to Dr. Dre, then Snoop 'cause they were all under one camp.
Sometimes I'll have a whole song done without having a beat - I'll just rap on an instrumental tempo and recreate a whole new song just around the lyrics.
Rap is the number one most influential thing, it's the only genre that really strikes a chord. When you sing, you feel a certain way and it makes you feel good, but when you rap, it just strikes a chord a whole different way.
Music changes every three months. There's always new artists coming out. There's always new sounds. There is always a new hit coming out. You gotta stay relevant as much as you can and feed your fans as much as you can.
You go to Miami, and you might only hear one Tyga song on the radio. You go to L.A., and you might hear six or seven on the radio. There's certain things you do for your city.
I feel like too many people on the West Coast, they're too needy. They feel they need Snoop or Game. I never did any tracks with any West Coast artists. Not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't feel like that's what I had to do in order to get on. I just did music.
I dropped out of high school when I was, like, 15, so I just focused on doing music. It's all I wanted to do; I didn't want to work or anything else. I took all the negativity and obstacles that came with life, and I just put it in the music.
I don't follow trends. I'm a trendsetter. I represent all the younger generations; fly kids, creative kids - they look up to me. I got a program that's called ROAR. I go to all high schools everywhere we go, and I talk to all the kids, and I give away 30-35 tickets and passes to the kids doing good in school. Stuff like that means a lot to me.