Lil Tecca

Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe (born August 26, 2002), known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper and singer-songwriter. Lil Tecca rose to mainstream prominence with the release of the 2019 single "Ransom", which peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song preceded the release of his debut mixtape ''We Love You Tecca'' (2019), which peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' 200 and contained the follow-up singles " Love Me" and " Did It Again". 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 albums 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. His fifth studio album ''Dopamine'', was released on June 13, 2025 with the leading singles " Dark Thoughts" and " Owa Owa".

Early life

Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe was born on August 26, 2002, in Queens, New York, to Jamaican immigrant parents. He grew up in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood of Queens. Sharpe's upbringing in Queens exposed him to diverse cultural influences. Sharpe relocated from Queens to Cedarhurst, a village located in Nassau County on Long Island, New York.Koscik, 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." Growing up, Sharpe dreamed of playing in the NBA. At 12 years old, he redirected his focus toward music, drawn to hip-hop and inspired by artists like Chief Keef and Speaker Knockerz. He attended Lawrence High School.

Career

2011–2018: Early career and musical career beginnings

At the age of 9, Tecca became interested in music after he began rapping over his mic while he was playing a game on Xbox with his friends. Tecca and his friends started targeting each other with diss tracks, with Tecca uploading two of these songs onto his account on SoundCloud. However, those tracks have since been removed. Tecca's first notable release was a track called "Tectri", released in 2017, which was a collaborative single with Gummybear. Following the release of "Tectri", Tecca continued releasing early tracks, including "Callin", among others.

2018–2019: Mainstream with "Ransom" and ''We Love You Tecca''

On October 29, 2018, Tecca released a single, called " Love Me". The song was produced by Dystinkt Beats. Upon its release, the song debuted at number 72 on the ''Canadian'' Hot 100. It also debuted on number 65 on US ''Rolling Stone'' Top 100. His music career began with his song "Ransom", which was originally uploaded to Cole Bennett's Lyrical Lemonade YouTube channel on May 22, 2019. ''Pitchfork'' described the song as "traditional" cloud rap with bittersweet, "trippy" production. "Ransom" reached its peak at number 4 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart accumulating over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify and 400 million views on YouTube.

On July 24, Tecca released a single titled " Did It Again". Upon its release, the song debuted at 64 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, making it his second entry after "Ransom". As of October 23, 2023, the single would become a 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. On August 14, 2019, Tecca released the remix to "Ransom", with Juice Wrld, onto his account on SoundCloud. The remix was released on other platforms the following day. The track was mixed by Taz Taylor and Nick Mira. The remix later got added to his-then upcoming debut mixtape, titled ''We Love You Tecca'', alongside the original version of the record. On August 30, Tecca released his debut mixtape, ''We Love You Tecca'', peaking at number 4 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. Following the mixtape's success, Tecca collaborated with Internet Money and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie on their track, titled " Somebody", in which was released on October 11, 2019. Produced by Nick Mira and Taz Taylor, the song debuted at number 96 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He released a track, called "Glo Up", later in that same month. On December 16, Tecca then released the single, called "Why You Look Mad", in which was produced by Ginseng and Rio Leyva.

2020–2021: ''Virgo World''

On January 31, 2020, Tecca appeared as a featured artist on The Kid Laroi's "Diva". It peaked at number 76 on the ARIA Singles Chart. On February 7, Tecca released a track, titled "IDK", in which was self-produced and released through Galactic and Republic Records. On March 13, Tecca released his single, called "All Star", a collaboration with Lil Tjay, in which accompanied by a music video. On April 17, he released a track, called " Out of Love" featuring Internet Money. The music video for the track was released on June 30. The video was directed by Omar Jones. On August 27, he appeared as a featured artist on Internet Money's "JLO", in which was released through 10K Projects.

On September 18, Tecca released his debut studio album, titled '' Virgo World''. " Dolly" featuring Lil Uzi Vert, was released that same day. On March 26, 2021, Internet Money released a track, called "Jetski", in which features a guest appearance from Tecca and Lil Mosey. Although it did not 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.

2021: ''We Love You Tecca 2''

On April 6, 2021, Tecca released the single, called " Show Me Up". The song was produced by Niko East. On May 6, he follow suit with the release of his single, called " Never Left", in which peaked at number 56 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. It also was ranked at number 28 on the ''Rolling Stone'' Top 100. Tecca released a track, called "Money on Me" on July 23, followed by the other track, called " Repeat It" (featuring American rapper Gunna) on August 6, resepctively.

On August 27, Tecca released his second studio album, titled ''We Love You Tecca 2'', as a sequel to his debut mixtape of the same name. The album contains guest appearances from Gunna, Iann Dior, Chief Keef, Trippie Redd,  Nav, and Lil Yachty. On September 1, 2021, the deluxe edition was released. Tecca made guest appearances on Bankrol Hayden's "Come Through" on September 24, and 24kGoldn's "Prada" on October 8, 2021. The latter song peaked at number 18 on New Zealand Hot Singles. He later went on the Tecca Loves You Tour with tana, Bktherula, and yvngxchris.

2022–2024: ''Tec''

On January 28, 2022, Tecca released his new single, called "Fallin". The song was written by Tecca, alongside Amin Elamin and Nathan Andrew Chen. The song was produced by Menoh Beats and Ninetyniine, with an accompanying music video released the same day. On February 25, ArrDee released a remix to " Flowers (Say My Name)", in which features a guest appearance from Tecca. Produced by WhYJay and LiTek, the song gained attention for Tecca's melodic verse, in which he raps about his love interest. On June 29, Tecca collaborated with English singer Mabel on " Let Love Go", a track from her second studio album, '' About Last Night...''. Tecca released two singles–"Faster" (August 5) and "Treesha" (August 26)–throughout the summer of 2022. On December 9, he follow suit with the release of his single, called "Blessing", in which was produced by Yung Tago and was released through Galactic Records.

Tecca would released four singles–"Need Me" (May 11), " 500lbs" (July 21), " Hvn on Earth" (with Kodak Black; August 18), and "Dead or Alive" (September 20), throughout the year of 2023, in a lead up to the release of his-then upcoming and untitled third studio album. On September 22, Tecca released his third studio album, titled '' Tec''. Initially announced to be released in May, however, the album's release has been delayed until fall of 2023. The album, comprises 16 tracks, includes one bonus track. Upon its release, ''Tec'' received generally positive reviews from critics 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. The music video for " Down with Me" premiered on December 29, 2023, that led to the album bonus track being released as a single on January 4, 2024.

2024–present: ''Plan A'' and ''Dopamine''

In May 2024, Tecca released two songs–"Never Last" and "Number 2"–alongside their music videos the same day. "Number 2" charted at number 45 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs charts and number 18 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart. Additionally, "Never Last" reached number 29 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart. On August 9, Tecca released the single, called "Taste", in which charted at number 31 on the New Zealand Hot Singles chart. On August 30, he released a track, called " Bad Time". The song was first previewed on an Instagram Live on June 24.
In September 2024, Tecca announced his-then upcoming fourth studio album, titled ''Plan A'', in which would be released on September 20. Upon its release, ''Plan A'' debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 and number 66 on the UK Albums Chart. The album featured a sole guest appearance from Don Toliver.

On March 14, 2025, he released the single " Dark Thoughts"; which would be the lead single for ''Dopamine,'' his upcoming fifth studio album. On May 30th he released the album's second single, "OWA OWA".

Personal life

During interviews in 2023 with ''Jazzys World TV'' and ''Complex'', Lil Tecca expressed that if he were not a rapper, he would have pursued a career as a heart surgeon or an engineer.

Discography

* '' Virgo World'' (2020)
* ''We Love You Tecca 2'' (2021)
* '' Tec'' (2023)
* '' Plan A'' (2024)
* ''Dopamine'' (2025)

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tecca, Lil
2002 births
Living people
21st-century American rappers
African-American male rappers
21st-century American male rappers
American child musicians
American rappers of Jamaican descent
East Coast hip-hop musicians
Lawrence High School (Cedarhurst, New York) alumni
People from Cedarhurst, New York
Rappers from Queens, New York
Republic Records artists
American child rappers