Article Info

Navigation

Comments

Sponsors

Interview: Tyga

In today’s saturated hip-hop game there’s no bigger compliment for a newcomer than a co-sign from rapper-of-the-moment Lil Wayne. Such was the case for 19-year-old hip-hopper Tyga, who has built upon his hype of signing with Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment in 2007, with his liquid-inspired smash single “Coconut Juice” off of his debut album No Introduction.

In the past few months, the heavily tatted young’n has been popping up on MTV, touring with Lil Wayne and modeling for a slew of relevant streetwear brands. With his song “Diamond Life” being featured on the latest installment of Madden 09 (in stores August 12) we caught up with the Compton-native to talk about his career, his favorite brands and what he brings to the rap game. Hit the link below to read the full interview.

Info: CJL

CJL: How content are you with the success of the album?

I mean, it’s only the beginning man, I really didn’t have any expectation for this because I don’t really know what to expect because I’m a new comer, and this is my first time. It’s all about destiny, I definitely appreciate everything but I’m definitely not satisfied yet; once your satisfied, then you’ll reach that next level.

CJL: The industry’s money is not what it once was, do you have plans for other ventures outside of making music?

Yeah, definitely, when you grow yourself as an artist you can do whatever, once you got a famous face you can do acting, or whatever you want to do. The thing about the music industry is there’s entertainment all around.

CJL: Was it weird signing to Pete Wentz’s label, being that the roster is made up of mostly rock bands?

Tyga: Yeah, in a way at first, then I realized what I was doing was a new kind of lane I was crossing into and it really helps now because I got him (Pete Wentz) and Lil Wayne. You know it’s a whole another lane than a lot of people that are there and they took a chance on me to be the first one to do it.

CJL: “No Introduction” released on June 10th, the promotion label is Bat Squad and the Distribution is Decaydance, what happened to Young Money?

Tyga: People are crazy, some stuff they got they’ll just put Young Money and they like to leave Decaydance out and some sites put Bat Squad up and vice versa. People don’t know what their talking about sometimes.

CJL: What is your craziest story from being on tour with Lil Wayne?

Tyga: The first time I actually came out on stage, I opened up for him, it was like the reaction, I didn’t really know what to expect. The reaction was crazy! People were crazy, they knew all my songs. That let me know that people knew what was going on.

[Tyga Ft. Lil Wayne - Thinking of You]

CJL: There was a lot of back and forth about the chain-snatching incident, what actually happened with that?

Tyga: Oh man, I responded, I put up a YouTube video. People know what it is. I try to stay away from that. It’s all about the music man, for real. People are more concerned about stuff like that more then music you know?

CJL: You were recently in a Karmaloop photo shoot for Rocksmith, what other brands/kicks are you feeling and rockin’ right now?

Tyga: As far as it goes it’s more designer stuff like Gucci. Another brand is a clothing line called WESC. They’re based out of L.A. and they got some real hot stuff out, I’m in there all the time. Other brands like Rocksmith.

CJL: Are you into sneakers?

Tyga: Yeah, definitely.

CJL: Do you still wait in line for new drops?

Tyga: I’m not into the release dates and stuff. I just go to the store if I see it, I go get it. I be up on sneakers but not to the point where I wait in line.

CJL: You’re heavily tatted, recently Pharrell said he’s looking to get his removed, do you think you’ll ever regret getting all that ink when you’re older?

Tyga: I don’t know, I couldn’t say. Maybe you know what I’m saying, they (Pharrell) reach another level to where it’s like they’re done and they did everything. A person like that there is so successful and they finally reached the level of highs in what they wanted.

CJL: How do you avoid falling into the ring-tone rap/one-hit-wonder category?

Tyga: Just keep putting new material out, just being me man. You know what I mean, just being original, just doing what I want to do. Not really looking at what everyone else is doing, and following everybody else’s trend, setting my own trends. Its just about being yourself, doing something new, being fresh.

CJL: Madden 2009’s track listing released on July 9th, what was the process of being able to add your “Diamond Life” track to the video game, how big was that for you?

Tyga: Oh that was big. When they told me they wanted to use the song, I was excited! That was around the time my album came out, when I heard about that I was like damn that’s crazy.

CJL: You’ve been known to switch your flow up, you spit on tracks like “Stacks on Deck” with Lil Wayne as well as records like “Hey There Delilah” (Remix) with The Plain White Tees, is that tough?

[Plain White T's Ft. Tyga - Hey There Delilah Remix]

[Lil Wayne Ft. Tyga & Gata - Stacks On Deck]

Tyga: I like to try new things man. I’m up to anything, once I find the beat and find the melodies I can do whatever, I can spit whatever. I don’t know man, it’s just like how I’m feeling that day, you know I might want to do stuff with Wayne or some crazy wacked out type stuff. It’s just throwing out my talent out there. I can do whatever.

At the end of the day, what are you looking to get out of your career?

Tyga: I just want everybody to be good around me and let other people know that I got a big vison for this. Everybody sees it but I want everybody to live it. If you told somebody a couple years ago Lil Wayne would be the best rapper right now, the biggest thing they would probably laugh you, people wouldn’t think you were serious. You know what I mean? I just want people to really know and respect what I have to bring to the game.

-Chris Lee