Jazz Ishmael Butler (born October 3, 1995), professionally known as Lil Tracy, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Butler was also known under the name Yung Bruh during the beginning of his career. Tracy is best known for his collaborations with the late rapper

Lil Peep Gustav Elijah Åhr (; November 1, 1996 – November 15, 2017), known professionally as Lil Peep, was an American rapper and singer-songwriter. He was a member of the hip-hop collective GothBoiClique, and is credited as being a leading figure of ...

, specifically " Awful Things", which peaked at 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and for being a prominent member of the "

SoundCloud rap SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is one ...

" and

underground rap Underground hip hop (also known as underground rap or simply underground) traditionally refers to hip hop music that is outside the general mainstream canon or counter-cultural in nature, usually with a heavy emphasis on emotion, lyricism, and/or ...

scene. He is the son of

Coko Cheryl Elizabeth Gamble (formerly Clemons; born June 13, 1970), known professionally as Coko, is an American singer-songwriter best known as the lead singer of the R&B vocal trio Sisters With Voices (SWV). Aside from her R&B career, Gamble als ...

, a member of the girl group SWV, and Ishmael Butler of the

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgen ...

Early life

Jazz Butler was born on October 3, 1995, in

Teaneck, New Jersey Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. The town is know for their pancake throwing contest held ...

, to Ishmael Butler of

and Cheryl Gamble, known professionally as "Coko" from SWV. When talking about growing up in

Virginia Beach Virginia Beach (colloquially VB) is the List of cities in Virginia, most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. The city is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeaster ...

, Butler said "it sucked but I love it." He grew up listening to

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

music and

Southern hip-hop Southern hip-hop, also known as Southern rap, South Coast hip-hop, or dirty south, is a blanket term for a regional genre of American hip-hop music that emerged in the Southern United States, especially in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, Texas, ...

artists who inspired him to make music. Butler's parents split up when he was young and he would spend time between his mother and father's homes. Butler lived in

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

during his adolescent years and attended McClure Middle School and Garfield High School, and chose to be homeless at age 17.

Career

2012–2016: Career beginnings

Butler started to make music when he was 15 before moving to Los Angeles at 18 (without alerting his parents) to focus more on his music career and due to being homeless. Butler originally started rapping under the name "Yung Bruh", releasing several mixtapes under the Thraxxhouse collective. Some members of Thraxxhouse, including Tracy eventually started their own group, the collective GothBoiClique. Through the group, Butler met New York rapper

, the two quickly collaborated on the song "White Tee" from Peep's '' Crybaby'' mixtape, which gathered attention through the hip-hop underground. He also released a single "Overdose", which escalated his career further.

2017: ''Tracys Manga'', ''XOXO'', and ''Life of a Popstar''

In mid-2016, Butler changed his stage name from Yung Bruh to Lil Tracy due to discovering that there was already another artist using the "Yung Bruh" moniker. Under his new name he released his long-awaited mixtape ''Tracy's Manga'' on February 1, 2017. Butler went on to release ''XOXO'' two months later on April 3. Butler was featured on the single " Awful Things" from

's debut album '' Come Over When You're Sober, Pt. 1'' and it peaked at number 79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Butler released ''Life of a Popstar'' on July 31, 2017.

2018–2019: ''Designer Talk'', ''Sinner'', and ''Anarchy''

In 2018, Lil Tracy released two EPs: ''Designer Talk'' on October 5 and long-awaited ''Sinner'' on November 2. Lil Tracy released his debut album, ''Anarchy'', on September 20, 2019, with two singles "Bad For You" and "Beautiful Nightmare" promoting it. Additional the music video for "Shame" released the same day on his Youtube channel. The album is dedicated to his late friend and frequent collaborator

. The tracklist was later updated due the song "I Love My Fans" having been omitted on the first release, although it was listed on the album back cover.

2020–present: ''Designer Talk 2'', ''Saturn Child'', and ''Babyvamp''

On November 13, 2020, Lil Tracy released his second album, ''Designer Talk 2''. On June 3, 2022, Lil Tracy released his third album, ''Saturn Child''. On February 28, 2025, Lil Tracy released his fourth album, ''Babyvamp''.

Discography

Albums

Mixtapes

Extended plays

Compilation albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tracy, Lil 1995 births Living people 21st-century American rappers 21st-century African-American male singers African-American male rappers 20th-century American male rappers African-American male singer-songwriters American alternative rock singers Caroline Records artists Cloud rappers Emo rappers Garfield High School (Seattle) alumni Musicians from Virginia Beach, Virginia Musicians from Teaneck, New Jersey Rappers from New Jersey Rappers from Seattle Rappers from Virginia Singer-songwriters from New Jersey Singer-songwriters from Virginia Singer-songwriters from Washington (state) American trap musicians