In just one yr, Lil Tecca has gone from a loftier school sophomore to securing a top 10 placement on the Billboard charts for his song "Ransom."

Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe was born on August 26, 2002 in Queens, New York. Five years ago, Tecca's family relocated to Long Isle, giving him the space and isolation to create. Growing up, Lil Tecca spent most of his time playing basketball and video games on his Xbox. Niggling did he know that an Xbox console would be essential to his music career (he started rapping afterward roasting his friend over Xbox Live).

Between the beefs he's had with the people of Toronto, his dearest for the Milwaukee Bucks, and Golden Krust beingness his get-to chain restaurant in New York, the 17-year-quondam rapper has started to open up upward about his interests and connect with a rapidly growing fanbase. Co-ordinate to him, he still merely raps on the weekends, so it'due south scary to think almost the heights he could achieve once he graduates high school and works on music full-time. His debut projection,We Dearest You Tecca, is set to release sometime this year. Until then, here's everything you lot need to know well-nigh Lil Tecca.

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Photo by 4landito

He had dreams of playing in the NBA

Before Lil Tecca's rap career took off, he had hoop dreams of playing in the NBA. As his love for the game grew, he spent "every day" of his summers playing at Springfield Park in Queens, New York. In an interview with Billboard, Lil Tecca did confirm that he was rapping at the aforementioned time he was playing ball, but eventually, he dropped the "ball is life" lifestyle. "I was truly, truly trying to go to the league," he reflected. "I love basketball game a lot. But honestly, eventually I realized I couldn't meet myself waking up every day to do it. I similar doing information technology to take fun, you feel me? I can't see myself having to wake upwards early, similar 6 a.m., to become to practice for it every twenty-four hours."

His start song was birthed from a roast session on Xbox Alive

Lil Tecca's career as a rapper began later on roasting his friend on Xbox Live, while playing a game of Telephone call of Duty. It'southward not clear what the exact comment was, merely later on getting flamed, Tecca sought to take his retaliation to the next level. "I was like, 'Yo, I'm done with this. I'm finna just record myself flaming y'all,' because we would but e'er go back and along through the Xbox," he told Complex. "Then I took my sister's laptop, downloaded Audacity, and I recorded myself over the beat. Then I uploaded information technology to SoundCloud." That i-minute rails, addressing his friend's head shape, birthed the rest of his rap career.

It turns out that Lil Tecca's Xbox friend wasn't the but casualty of his new musical ability. During an interview with Adam22 of No Jumper, Lil Tecca revealed that he was he was as well dissing other people in his school. That is, until his guidance counselor found out. Earlier the give-and-take spread to the masses, he deleted all of the tracks because he felt similar people were snitching on him. Unfortunately, those diss tracks take never resurfaced.

Interestingly plenty, Tecca's guidance counselor institute out that he was rapping before the rest of his family did. Lil Tecca'due south sis found out first, considering he used her reckoner to make the music, and she ended up spilling the news to his parents. "It's not that I never wanted [my parents] to know, but information technology was more than about how I was talking almost inappropriate things and my parents aren't having that," he explained to Billboard. "I wanted to await to a point where they could exist similar, "Oh, he's actually practiced and making money." But that's not what happened because my sister told them."

He wants to collab with Primary Keef, but he'll also take Drake

With Lil Tecca'southward newfound fame, he'll likely have plenty of options when it comes to collaborations in the future. Simply prior to the "Ran$om" remix that just dropped with Juice WRLD (some other one of Tecca'southward idols), he always envisioned his first musical collaboration to be with Main Keef. "I desire my first collab to be with Keef," he revealed to Billboard back in June. If Lil Tecca and Chief Keef somehow couldn't get the job washed, Drake would have sufficed. "If Drake hits me upward or something, that'due south besides fire," he continued with a laugh. "Only I want my first collab to be with Master Keef."

Being Jamaican influenced his sound and taste buds

Fifty-fifty though Lil Tecca's career path is drastically dissimilar than that of his parents, the rapper is nevertheless a product of his surroundings. Lil Tecca grew up in a Jamacian household, subconsciously being influenced by the music in the home, despite the fact that he can't call up the names to any songs he was hearing. "When you come from a Jamacian household, there's going to be a lot of Jamacian music that you lot don't know the person's proper name, merely you lot know the song," he explained to XXL. The exposure impacted his early tracks like "My Time," "Love Me," and "Count Me Out." In addition to his ear, Jamaica influenced his taste buds as well. To no surprise, his favorite nutrient is curry caprine animal.

If he wasn't a rapper, he would exist a producer

If Lil Tecca wasn't getting busy in front of the mic, he would've been putting in work on the boards. In multiple interviews, Lil Tecca has admitted that if he wasn't a rapper, he would be a producer. At the age of 11, Tecca tried to make beats, but quit because it was besides difficult. The overabundance of buttons on the production programs turned him away. "When you're 11 years old, y'all don't feel like learning all of that," he explained to XXL. Don't sleep, though. Five years subsequently, fully inserted in the rap game, he's coming for producers' heads. "I'll give y'all producers three months, if that, until I'k the all-time in the game at producing," he confidently explained. "Crusade information technology'southward merely like rapping. You lot're just making something sound good."

He doesn't feel the pressure level of New York rap

Originally hailing from Queens (the aforementioned dwelling of Nas, Mobb Deep, and fifty Cent) earlier moving to Long Isle (the home of Rakim, Chuck D, Method Man, and more), Lil Tecca feels no pressure from New York City, despite his preceding OGs. He credits the lack of pressure to the fact that people don't know he's from New York. "I don't take the aforementioned force per unit area," he told Circuitous. "Everyone else that'southward coming upwards in New York, you know they're from New York. Nobody knew I was from New York. People withal don't even know." He added, "I'one thousand in my ain lane."

His musical influences are diverse (from Michael Jackson to Speaker Knockerz)

Lil Tecca's musical influences will take you around the world of music. During an interview with No Jumper, he said he was inspired by a broad range of artists like Michael Jackson, Coldplay, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Waka Flaka Flame, Meek Mill, and the entirety of the Chicago drill era (including rappers like SD, Lil Reese, Fredo Santana, and Master Keef.) Similar many of us, Chief Keef stole his attending with the viral release of the "Don't Similar" video in 2012, which he says is his life's theme song. "Me and my brother saw that and information technology didn't fifty-fifty have 100,000 views even so," Lil Tecca told Adam22. Even as a fifth grader, information technology afflicted the rest of Lil Tecca'south life: "It made rapping expect cool to me. It was then unlike. It was like the commencement of that shit. Like, 'I don't give a fuck, we're just doing this on the internet. Information technology was similar GTA rap."

Forth with Chief Keef, Lil Tecca credits his melodic period to the slain rapper Speaker Knockerz. "Speaker Knockerz, melodically, he'south amazing," he told Billboard. "A lot of people overlook that. If you lot heed to all the people that other people compare me to, the simply one I tin can hear is Speaker Knockerz. I'm inspired past Speaker Knockerz, I'm not actually inspired past all these other people that I'm compared to."

Tecca also believes that artists similar Juice WRLD, A Boogie, and Lil Uzi Vert are setting the pace for new school rappers. His standout track "Ran$om" was freestyled, a method he snatched from watching Juice WRLD. "I started freestyling on my songs after like, I seen JuiceWRLD exercise it," he said on Genius' Verified series. "And so I just tried it and and so fabricated a few songs out of it."

Despite the many names mentioned higher up, both new and old, his superlative 5 rappers of all fourth dimension are: "Speaker Knockerz, Principal Keef, Al Capone, Uzi, and Gunna."

No ane called him a nerd until recently

Anyone with a thick pair of frames and braces is suddenly a "nerd," but that characterization is new for Lil Tecca. "No one ever really chosen me a nerd until recently," he told Complex. "This nerd persona and everyone calling me that is a new thing. So I was similar... I don't really take it as an insult." As he shouldn't. Most nerds can only dream of a lifestyle that allows for riding golf game carts, surrounded by women.

He says he has a stronger relationship with people online than in-person

When Lil Tecca's life changed last yr, the people effectually him inevitably changed, steering him away from edifice or keeping organic relationships with his associates. In addition to the switch-ups that accompanied his ascent fame, the lifestyle disconnect created a very real separation. "Information technology's difficult for me to be friends with a normal xvi-year-old because like, the normal 16-year-old isn't focused on the same thing I'm focused on, we can't relate. I simply fuck with people I tin can chronicle to," Tecca admitted. He farther explained that his strongest relationships come from the people he knows online rather than in-person. Why? Considering Lil Tecca refuses to buy into anything fake.

He got the name Lil Tecca from a girl he used to talk to

In an interview with Lyrical Lemonade, the Cole Bennett-founded empire that premiered his "Ran$om" video, Lil Tecca revealed how he got his rap name. Interestingly, he wasn't the only "Tecca" out there. He got the proper name Lil Tecca from a girl on Instagram. Both Lil Tecca and the girl shared a variation of the give-and-take in their usernames. Her proper name was Tecca with "fifty c's" and his was "Tecca Hilfiger." Equally he was nigh to brand his total transition into rap, he asked her what his name should be, and she responded by telling him to call himself Lil Tecca. So he went for it.

He claims that in v years, he'll either be "really successful" or he'll be heart surgeon

In addition to the hoop dreams of his childhood, Lil Tecca explained to Party1019.com that in five years, if he isn't "really successful" every bit a rapper, he will be spending his time in the operating room as a centre surgeon.

If he doesn't come up up with an opening line within two minutes of making a song, he switches to a new beat

Similar to when he offset started rapping, Lil Tecca keeps his creative procedure short. According to him, if he finds a beat that he likes, he gives himself two minutes to at least come upward with the opening line earlier he moves on and switches the trounce. And so what's the fastest he'due south always recorded a full song? Just 30 minutes.

He is signed to a articulation deal with Republic Records and Galactic Records

Lil Tecca signed a joint venture bargain that combined his Galactic Records with Democracy Records. Aside from the tracks that he's released independently, iv of his biggest songs were released through different imprints. According to Apple Music, "My Fourth dimension" was released via Money Bag Music, "Count Me Out" via ReSolute, and "Molly Girl" and "Ran$om" were released via Galactic Records.