Instagram/Lil Tjay Lil Tjay pictured on his Instagram page.
Lil Tjay is the rapper who was involved in a brawl with YBN Almighty Jay, TJ Porter and Bay Swag, in New York City. TMZ was the first to report that YBN Almighty had been robbed outside of Saks Fifth Avenue in Manhattan.
The site says that Almighty had been shopping with friends when Lil Tjay, 17, and his friends showed up. The two groups got into some verbal sparring before everything turned physical. On his Instagram page, Tjay goes by the moniker, “Prince of New York.” The rapper is a native of The Bronx.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. The Police Were Called to the Scene of the Robbery, But No Report Was Filed
Eventually, Almighty was separated from his group at which point he had his wallet, chain and shoes stolen. The TMZ report adds that the NYPD was called to the scene but no report was filled out.
YBN Almighty Jay was last in the news at the beginning of March after it was reported that he was dating Blac Chyna.
2. Most Recently, Tjay Collaborated With Sky Katz
Most recently, Tjay collaborated with teenage singer Sky Katz. Katz told Billboard in February 2019 that her DJ is a close friend of Tjay’s, which is how the collaboration came to be.
Katz went on to say that Tjay was six hours late for their first studio date and was “even later” for their video shoot at Brooklyn Zoo. The pair’s video was directed by Spike Tarantino. Despite this, Katz said that she would work with Tjay again saying, “I’d want to work with Tjay again, but I’d tell him four hours before the scheduled time. The Prince of New York is what he calls himself. He holds his own and has a cool flow. He’s up next for New York.”
3. Tjay Has Just Signed With Columbia Records
Billboard reported on February 28 that Tjay had recently signed with Columbia Records, home of Beyonce and Pharrell Williams. A Rolling Stone feature on Tjay from earlier in 2019 describes his style as “insanely joyful pop music with a sobering edge.” In that feature, Tjay described his “older influences” as Meek Mill and Drake.
Tjay told Rolling Stone, “I feel like a lot of times when stuff is on my mind, I really don’t show it. I know how to hide my emotions. I can say what’s going on and not make you want to feel down. A lot of time I like to sing music that people can relate to, but not necessarily put them in a depressed mood. In ‘Brothers’ I’m saying, ‘Bodies drop all the time, I don’t feel nothing.’ Basically, I’m trying to say I’m bringing the struggle into a more of joyful, melodic sound.”
4. At 15, Tjay Spent Over a Year in Prison
Tjay told Pitchfork in an interview that at 15, he was sentenced to serve time in a youth detention center after he was found guilty of committing a string of robberies. Tjay did not go into details about the incident. As he was a minor, his record is sealed.
In his Rolling Stone interview, Tjay said he had been sentenced to serve “little over a year.” Tjay added, “It was not fun. It’s not nothing that I would want to do again, but I learned a lot from it. I feel like if I wasn’t to go to jail, I probably wouldn’t be the person I am — I wouldn’t. Cause I wouldn’t have sat down and wrote those songs and I never would’ve been able to focus on what I want to accomplish. So it’s like it was actually a good thing for me. It made me open my eyes and stuff like that.”
5 Lil Tjay Is Being Dragged Online Over the Incident
As news of the brawl involving YBN Almighty Jay spread, Lil Tjay has been dragged on Twitter by fans. Here are some of the best messages:
Lil Tjay slimey 😂🤦🏽♂️
https://twitter.com/MillsSlatt/status/1104439887556763648
these guys are corny af for jumping two 18 year olds but we have to protect Lil Tjay at all costs
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