Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe (born August 26, 2002), known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper, singer-songwriter and record producer.[2] He rose to mainstream fame with the release of his 2019 single "Ransom", which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100.[3][4][5] The song preceded the release of his debut mixtape We Love You Tecca (2019), which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200[6] and contained the follow-up singles "Love Me" and "Did It Again".[7] His debut studio album, Virgo World (2020) peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200, while his second and third albums, We Love You Tecca 2 (2021) and Tec (2023) reached similar positions on the chart. The latter two spawned the singles "Never Left" and "500lbs", respectively, both of which received platinum certifications by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His fourth studio album Plan A was released in 2024.
Tecca began rapping when he was nine years old, catering to his interest in music by rapping with his friends over his mic on his Xbox. They created diss tracks targeting each other, uploading two to SoundCloud years ago. However, those tracks have since been removed.[13] Tecca's first notable release, "Tectri" (2017), was a collaborative single with Gummybear. Other early tracks include "Callin".[14]
A year later, his career took off with the hit single "Ransom", originally uploaded to Cole Bennett's Lyrical LemonadeYouTube channel on May 22, 2019. Pitchfork described the song as "traditional" cloud rap with bittersweet, "trippy" production.[17] "Ransom" reached its peak at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart[18] accumulating over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify[19] and 400 million views on YouTube.[20] "Did It Again" was released on July 24, 2019. The song debuted at 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it his second entry after "Ransom".[21] On October 23, 2023, the single was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over a two million units in the United States.[22]
On August 14, 2019, Tecca released the remix of "Ransom" on his SoundCloud with Juice Wrld.[23] The remix was released on other platforms the following day.[24] The track was mixed by Taz Taylor and Nick Mira. The remix later got added to his debut mixtape We Love You Tecca alongside the original version.
On August 30, 2019, Tecca released his debut mixtape, We Love You Tecca,[25] which peaked at number 4 on the US Billboard 200.[6] Following the mixtape's success, Tecca collaborated with Internet Money on "Somebody" (October 11, 2019), featuring A Boogie Wit da Hoodie.[26] Produced by Nick Mira and Taz Taylor, the song debuted at number 96 on the Billboard Hot 100. He released "Glo Up" that same month.[27] Tecca then released the single "Why You Look Mad" on December 16, 2019, produced by Ginseng and Rio Leyva.[citation needed]
Tecca was featured on The Kid Laroi's "Diva", on January 31, 2020.[28][29] It peaked at number 76 on the ARIA Singles Chart.[30] Tecca released "IDK" on February 7, self-produced and released through Galactic Records and Republic Records.[31] On March 13, 2020, Tecca released his single "All Star", a collaboration with Lil Tjay, accompanied by a music video.[32] On April 17, 2020, he released "Out of Love" featuring Internet Money.[33] The official music video for the track was released on June 30, 2020.[34] The video was directed by Omar Jones.[35] He was featured on Internet Money's "JLO" on August 27, released through 10K Projects.[36]
On March 26, 2021, Internet Money released "Jetski" featuring Tecca and Lil Mosey.[39] Although it didn't chart on the Billboard Hot 100, the song peaked at number 19 on the Bubbling Under the Hot 100 and number 88 on the Canadian Hot 100.[40][failed verification] On April 6, 2021, Tecca released the single "Show Me Up". The song was produced by Niko East.[41] He followed up with "Never Left" on May 6, 2021, which peaked at number 56 on the US Billboard Hot 100.[42][failed verification][43] It was ranked at number 28 on the Rolling Stone Top 100.[44]
On January 28, 2022, Tecca released his new single, "Fallin." Written by Amin Elamin, Nathan Andrew Chen, and Tecca.[55] The song was produced by Menoh Beats and Ninetyniine, with an accompanying music video released the same day.[56] On February 25, 2022, ArrDee released a remix of "Flowers (Say My Name)" featuring Tecca. Produced by WhYJay and LiTek, the song gained attention for Tecca's melodic verse, where he raps to his love interest.[57]
Lil Tecca released two singles in summer 2022: "Faster" on August 5[59] and "Treesha" on August 26.[60] He followed up with "Blessing" on December 9, 2022, produced by Yung Tago and released through Galactic Records.[61]
On September 22, 2023, Lil Tecca released his third studio album, Tec.[68] Initially announced in May, the album's release was delayed until fall.[69] The album comprises 16 tracks, including one bonus track.[70] Tec received generally positive reviews from critics[71] and became Lil Tecca's third US top album, debuting at number eleven on the US Billboard 200. Following its release, several songs from the album charted on the Billboard Hot 100.[72]
In May 2024, Lil Tecca released the songs "Never Last" and "Number 2", alongside their music videos the same day.[73] "Number 2" charted at number 45 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts[74] and number 18 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart.[75] Additionally, "Never Last" reached number 29 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart. Tecca released the single "Taste" on August 9, 2024, which charted at number 31 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart.[76][failed verification]
In September 2024, Lil Tecca announced his fourth studio album, Plan A, released on September 20, 2024.[79][80]Plan A debuted at number 66 on the UK Albums Chart. The album featured a sole guest appearance from Don Toliver.[81]
^ abKoscik, Danielle. "Rapper Lil Tecca's Transition from High school Student to Chart Topping Artist", Medium (website), November 21, 2019. Accessed September 26, 2020. "Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe grew up in Cedarhurst, Long Island right around the corner from the high school he would attend for 3 years before making it big. While at Lawrence High school he would tend to stay in the background before people worldwide knew his name."
