Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe (born August 26, 2002), known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper and singer. He rose to mainstream fame with the release of his 2019 single "

Ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

", which peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The single was included on his debut mixtape ''

We Love You Tecca ''We Love You Tecca'' is the debut mixtape by American rapper Lil Tecca. It was released on August 30, 2019, through Republic Records. The mixtape contains a sole guest appearance from Juice Wrld. It features Tecca's breakout hit, "Ransom", which ...

'' (2019) which peaked at number 4 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. The mixtape also included the singles " Love Me" and " Did It Again". His debut studio album, ''

Virgo World ''Virgo World'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Lil Tecca. It was released through Galactic and Republic Records on September 18, 2020. The album features guest appearances from Polo G, Lil Durk, Nav (rapper), Nav, Skrillex, DJ Scheme ...

'' (2020), debuted at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and included the ''Billboard'' Hot 100-charting songs " Dolly" and "When You Down". His second mixtape, ''

We Love You Tecca 2 ''We Love You Tecca 2'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil Tecca. It was released through Galactic and Republic Records on August 27, 2021, one day after his 19th birthday. The album contains guest appearances from Gunna, Iann Dio ...

'', was released in August 2021 which included "

Repeat It "Repeat It" is a song by American rappers Lil Tecca and Gunna, released on August 6, 2021, as the third single from his second mixtape ''We Love You Tecca 2 ''We Love You Tecca 2'' is the second studio album by American rapper Lil Tecca. It was ...

" and "Lot of Me".

Early life

Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe was born on August 26, 2002, in the

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

area of New York City to Jamaican immigrants. He was raised in the

Springfield Gardens Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the w ...

neighborhood of Queens, but later relocated to Cedarhurst in

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

.Koscik, Danielle
"Rapper Lil Tecca's Transition from High school Student to Chart Topping Artist"

Medium (website) Medium is an American online publishing platform developed by Evan Williams and launched in August 2012. It is owned by A Medium Corporation. The platform is an example of social journalism, having a hybrid collection of amateur and professio ...

, November 21, 2019. Accessed September 26, 2020. "Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe grew up in Cedarhurst, Long Island right around the corner from the high school he would attend for 3 years before making it big. While at Lawrence High school he would tend to stay in the background before people worldwide knew his name." From a young age, Sharpe had aspirations of being in the

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

, but around the age of 12, he turned his attention towards pursuing a career in music. He attended Lawrence High School.

Career

When Tecca was nine years old, he catered to his interest in music by rapping with his friends over his mic on his

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

. They would make diss tracks directed towards each other, one of which was uploaded to

SoundCloud SoundCloud is an online audio distribution platform and music sharing website that enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one of the largest music streaming se ...

years ago, but has since been taken down. At first, he did not have intentions to start a musical career and instead had dreams of being an

star. However, in his middle school years, he lost interest in basketball and considered taking music more seriously. His first track to gain some popularity, "Tectri", was made in collaboration with his friend, Lil Gummybear, and was released in early 2017. Other preliminary tracks of his include "Callin". Just a year later, Tecca's career began to take off with his hit single, "

", which was originally uploaded on

Cole Bennett Cole Michael Bennett (born May 14, 1996) is an American business executive, videographer, and music video director. His multimedia company, Lyrical Lemonade, started in 2013 as an internet blog while he was in high school. Early life Cole Be ...

's Lyrical Lemonade

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel on May 22, 2019. The song peaked at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and has received over 1 billion plays on

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

and over 400 million views on YouTube. On August 30, 2019, Tecca released his debut mixtape, titled ''

''.The Lil Tecca "No Jumper" Interview
/ref> The mixtape peaked at number 4 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. After the release of multiple singles in 2020, Tecca released his debut album, ''

'', on September 18, 2020. On April 6, 2021, Tecca released the single "Show Me Up". On May 6, 2021, he released the single " Never Left", which peaked at number 54 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On August 6, 2021, Tecca released the single "

" with American rapper Gunna. On August 27, 2021, Tecca released his second studio album, ''

'', the sequel to his debut mixtape, ''

''. He later went on the ''Tecca Loves You Tour'' with

tana Tana may refer to: Places Africa * Lake Tana, a lake in Ethiopia (and a source of the Nile River) * Tana Qirqos, an island in the eastern part of Lake Tana in Ethiopia, near the mouth of the Gumara River * Tana River County, a county of Coast P ...

Bktherula Brooklyn Candida Rodriguez (born August 30, 2002), known professionally as Bktherula, is an American rapper, singer and songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. She is recognized for her aesthetic and devoted fanbase. Early life Rodriguez recorded ...

, and

yvngxchris Christian Eugene Williams (born November 21, 2004), known professionally as yvngxchris (pronounced as "Yung Chris"), is an American rapper from Virginia. He is better known for his unreleased song "Blood On The Leaves" which received traction on ...

. In 2022, Tecca released a collaboration " Let Love Go" with English singer Mabel as part of Mabel's second studio album " About Last Night". Tecca is a co-owner of Galactic Records. Galactic's roster of artists consists of Tecca himself,

, Tokin, and WAV.

Discography

* ''

'' (2020) * ''

'' (2021)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tecca, Lil 2002 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians African-American male rappers American child musicians American rappers of Jamaican descent East Coast hip hop musicians Lawrence High School (Cedarhurst, New York) alumni Musicians from Queens, New York People from Cedarhurst, New York Rappers from New York City Republic Records artists 21st-century African-American musicians