Lil Tjay

Lil Tjay Basic Information

Stage Name:	Lil Tjay
Real Name:	Tione Jayden Merritt
Occupation:	Rapper and Singer
Date Of Birth/Age:	30 April 2001 (22 Years Old)
Place of Birth:	The Bronx, New York City
Gender:	Male
Nationality:	American
Marital Status:	Single
Education:	–
Height:	5Ft 10In
Net Worth:	$1.5M

Lil Tjay Biography

Tione Merritt, born 30 April 2001, is a native of the Fordham neighborhood in the Bronx, New York City, and grew up with his single mother and two younger siblings. Of the three children, Merritt considered himself the troublesome child, frequently getting into minor thefts and school brawls. When he was 15, he was apprehended for one of his thefts and received a one-year sentence at a youth detention facility, where he discovered his talent for writing rap songs. Among his popular tracks is “Resume,” which he uploaded on SoundCloud.

Smelly, a friend from Merritt’s youth, was fatally stabbed in August 2016. Merritt honors his boyhood friend by using his name, “Smelly,” in several of his compositions. In a Rolling Stone interview, he acknowledged Drake, Meek Mill, and Usher as his major musical influences. In the same interview, Merritt described his music as melodic, whether singing or rapping about his prior problems. Merritt also attributes his success to the year he was incarcerated, where he believes his songwriting prowess peaked. Merritt is referred to as a “hip-hop heartthrob” in the featured article on him from Pitchfork. Merritt noted in the same interview that the reason he’s frequently referred to as the “Bronx Justin Bieber” is because his song “None of Your Love” samples Justin Bieber’s “Baby.”

Family

Parents

There’s no detailed information on his Parents. However, it is known that a single mother raised him and his siblings, and he often mentions his Ghanaian ancestry.

Siblings

He has two younger siblings, and they were all raised in what he described as a “roomy” apartment on 183rd Street in The Bronx.

Children

 

He has no child at the moment

Lifestyle

Lil Tjay, a rapper with roots in the Bronx, uses his melodic voice and often incorporates auto-tune. He’s been compared to A Boogie with da Hoodie, another New York rapper. In a Rolling Stone interview, Lil Tjay revealed that his biggest influences are Drake, Meek Mill, and Usher. He described his music as melodic, reflecting his past struggles. Lil Tjay credits his time in prison for honing his songwriting skills, and in a Pitchfork article, he’s referred to as a “hip-hop heartthrob.” He also revealed that he’d been called the “Bronx Justin Bieber” due to his sampling of Bieber’s hit song “Baby.”

Tjay started sharing his music on SoundCloud in 2017. One of his initial tracks, “Resume,” gained traction online when he was only 16. On 10 March 2018, Tjay participated in the Coast 2 Coast LIVE NYC All Ages Edition and secured the top spot. An A&R representative from a record label was present to judge the event and was impressed by Tjay’s performance. Following this, Tjay dropped “Brothers,” which became his most famous song and landed him a deal with Columbia Records.

During the initial ten months of Lil Tjay’s music career, he successfully launched five tracks on SoundCloud that garnered over one million plays. Notable tracks included “Brothers,” “Resume,” “Goat,” and “Leaked,” each accumulating tens of millions of streams. In July 2018, Lil Tjay collaborated with Cash Money AP to create “None of Your Love,” which also amassed millions of plays. After 2018, Lil Tjay released his debut EP titled No Comparison.

In January 2019, Tjay collaborated with rapper Polo G on the single “Pop Out,” which managed to reach the impressive position of number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year, he contributed to boy band PRETTYMUCH’s “Lying.” Tjay also released his own EP, F.N., which featured the lead single of the same name that reached number 56 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became his first solo charting song. Lil Tjay’s first full-length album, True 2 Myself, was released on 11 October 2019 and debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard 200. In December, he was included on a remix of 24kGoldn’s track “Valentino.”

Tjay’s long-awaited collaboration with American singer 6lack, “Calling My Phone,” was finally released on 12 February 2021, alongside a visually stunning music video directed by Cam Busby. To Tjay’s delight, the song peaked at number three on the illustrious Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it his highest-charting single. Tjay followed up this success by releasing his second album, “Destined 2 Win,” which debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart later that year.

In March 2022, Merritt began teasing a fresh tune called “In My Head,” featuring a sample of Iyaz’s “Replay.” The song was finally released on 1 April 2022. Later, on 24 April, Merritt released a freestyle track titled “Lavish” on his YouTube channel. The next day, he announced his EP, Strictly 4 My Fans. On 26 August 2022, Merritt released his single “Beat the Odds,” which updates his recovery following a near-fatal shooting. On 17 November 2022, Merritt teased a trailer for his single “Give You What You Want,” which was released the same day at 4 p.m. on YouTube.

Merritt was shot seven times on 22 June 2022 in Edgewater, New Jersey, during an attempted robbery. A second victim, Merritt’s buddy Antoine Boyd, 22, who was wounded once as well, was rushed to Hackensack University Medical Center and underwent emergency surgery. Boyd was in stable condition. The shooter, also injured by bullets, managed to flee with assistance from an unnamed accomplice. According to the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office, the shooting did not appear random, and one victim’s status had improved from critical to stable. At the same time, the other remained in good shape.

Later that day, police detained Mohamed Konate, 27, who was accused of several firearms charges, three counts of first-degree attempted murder, three counts of first-degree armed robbery, and three instances of attempted murder. Both Antoine Boyd and Jeffery Valdez, who were in Merritt’s company but weren’t hurt, were charged with second-degree unauthorized possession of a weapon; however, the charges were eventually withdrawn. Merritt was not accused of any wrongdoing.

Merritt was still comatose after the incident on 23 June 2022. After Merritt’s status received no reliable updates for several days, speculations that he was paralyzed and maybe brain dead started circulating. However, numerous sources later debunked these rumors as news broke on 1 July 2022, indicating that Merritt was still in the hospital but “alert and talking.” Merrit sent an update video to his social media channels on 24 August 2022. While sporting a neck brace, he declares that he is doing better and is “going to come back stronger than ever” in the video. The peak “Beat the Odds” position on the Billboard Hot 100 list was #36. Tjay recuperated in the hospital in the music video from his gunshot wounds.

The police detained Merritt after being pulled over on 16 January 2023 in the Bronx. At his arrest, Bronx rapper Merritt was en route to a shoot with Ice Spice. Before making the arrest, the cops discovered a weapon in the car. He was charged with possessing a gun, and a hearing was scheduled for 14 February. Merritt’s attendance at the trial and the case’s outcome are unknown. Dawn Florio, Merritt’s lawyer, asserts that Merritt did not own the gun that the police discovered. She further says that the search by the police was improper because Merritt was supposedly a passenger in the car, which was lawfully parked on the street.

Net Worth

He is said to have an estimated net worth of $1.5 Million.

Cars

Lil Tjay owns a highly respectable collection of vehicles, several vintage American muscle cars. He also holds a Rolls Royce, Toyota, Chevrolet, Dodge Challenger, and several other vehicles.

House

Even though Lil Tjay resides in New York City and owns a home there, he has not disclosed much about his real estate holdings.

Girlfriend

He is reportedly said to be single and not in any known relationships.