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Micheal Ray Stevenson (born November 19, 1989), known professionally as Tyga (; a backronym for Thank You God Always), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. He first signed with Decaydence Records to release his debut studio album No Introduction (2008), but came to mainstream recognition after signing with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money Records and Republic Records in 2008. His second album and major label debut, Careless World: Rise of the Last King (2012), peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Rack City", as well as the top 40 single "Faded" (featuring Lil Wayne). His third album, Hotel California (2013), debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200, along with his the collaborative album with singer Chris Brown, Fan of a Fan: The Album (2015).

Due to disagreements with Young Money, Tyga's fourth album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty (2015), was self-released and witnessed a steep critical and commercial decline, along with his fifth and sixth albums, BitchImTheShit2 (2017) and Kyoto (2018). He experienced a resurgence with his 2018 single, "Taste" (featuring Offset), which peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified diamond by the RIAA, serving as the lead single for his seventh album, Legendary (2019). His following albums, NSFW (2025) and Starface (2026), both failed to chart and were poorly received; the latter was heavily criticized for its use of artificial intelligence.

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, Pasionaye Nicole Nguyen (September 11, 1971 – January 18, 2025), was born in Vietnam and had the maiden name Nguyen. He grew up listening to Fabolous, Lil Wayne, Cam'ron, and Eminem, among others.

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."

Career

2007–2010: No Introduction and mixtapes

Tyga's career began with him releasing a multitude of demo tapes and mixtapes. His 2007 debut mixtape, Young On Probation, garnered the attention of rapper and Gym Class Heroes frontman, Travie McCoy. Seeing talent in the artist, McCoy led him to sign a recording contract with Fall Out Boy bassist Pete Wentz's independent label Decaydence Records. Tyga ended up performing on Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race" remix with McCoy and Lil' Wayne at the 2007 MTV Video Music Awards. He also performed at gigs with Gym Class Heroes and received mentoring from McCoy. McCoy 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".