Michael Stephenson
Micheal Ray Stevenson (born November 19, 1989), known professionally as Tyga (; a backronym for Thank You God Always), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. After several independent releases, he signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money Records and Republic Records in 2008. His second album and major label debut, Careless World: Rise of the Last King (2012), peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Rack City", as well as the top 40 single "Faded" (featuring Lil Wayne). His third album, Hotel California (2013), debuted in the top ten of the Billboard 200, followed by his collaborative album with singer Chris Brown, Fan of a Fan: The Album (2015), which became his best-selling album worldwide.
Due to disagreements with Young Money, Tyga's fourth album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty (2015), was released independently. Executive-produced by his then-common law relative Kanye West, it became his lowest-selling album to that point with estimated sales of 5,000 album equivalent units in its first week. His fifth and sixth albums, BitchImTheShit2 (2017) and Kyoto (2018), were both met with continued stagnation. His May 2018 single, "Taste" (featuring Offset), marked a period of commercial resurgence; it became his first top 40 single since 2015's "Ayo" (with Chris Brown)—peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100—and received Diamond certification by the RIAA. It served as the lead single for his seventh album, Legendary (2019), which produced other Platinum-certified singles, including "Swish" and "Dip" (featuring Nicki Minaj), and was certified platinum by the RIAA. His following albums, NSFW (2025) and Starface (2026), failed to chart and were poorly received; the latter was heavily criticized for its use of artificial intelligence in its production.
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