Overview
Micheal Ray Stevenson (born November 19, 1989), known professionally as Tyga (; a backronym for Thank You God Always), is an American rapper. After a number of independent releases, Tyga signed a recording contract with Young Money Entertainment, Cash Money Records and Republic Records in 2008. His major label debut Careless World: Rise of the Last King was released in 2011 and included the successful singles "Rack City", "Faded" (featuring Lil Wayne), "Far Away" (featuring Chris Richardson), "Still Got It" (featuring Drake), and "Make It Nasty". The album's success was followed up with Hotel California (2013) and Fan of a Fan: The Album (2015), in collaboration with singer Chris Brown.
Due to disagreements with Young Money, Tyga's next album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty was released independently on June 23, 2015. The album, executively produced by Kanye West, became his lowest selling album to that point, selling 5,000 album equivalent units in its first week.
After a period of stagnation and mixed reception from previous material, his May 2018 single, "Taste" (featuring Offset), peaked at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, being his first Top 40 single since "Ayo" with Chris Brown in 2015. The song provided a brief period of commercial resurgence, enough to justify the release of his seventh album Legendary, released in 2019.
Early life
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 many others.
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