Lil Tjay’s story is another example of how the Bronx continues to shape rap culture from within, despite challenging external and internal circumstances. The borough that gave the world hip-hop continues to produce talent that draws inspiration from the streets, their struggles, and their own experiences. From an aggressive teenager who served time in prison, Tjay transformed into a voice for his generation and achieved genuine stardom by releasing several platinum singles. Read on at bronxski.com to learn more about this young Bronx rapper’s road to fame and the obstacles he overcame along the way.
The Young Troublemaker
Tione Jayden Merritt, known as Lil Tjay, grew up in the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx. A large family, poverty, and a criminal environment shaped a boy who had to grow up very quickly. In middle school, Lil Tjay entered a life of crime and spent time in juvenile detention centers. In 2016, at age 15, he was sentenced to a year in prison on a robbery charge. It was then that Tjay first seriously thought about music, writing lyrics in jail with the goal of turning his life around.
After his release, Lil Tjay got right to work. He began recording songs on his phone and computer, experimenting with his sound and drawing inspiration from the music his mother listened to, like Usher and Michael Jackson. His blend of emotional vocals and honest, dark teenage stories quickly resonated. His first solo song, “Resume,” went viral, racking up over 14 million streams in less than a year. By the summer of 2018, the track “Brothers” was blasting in every school hallway in New York, cementing Lil Tjay’s status as a rapidly rising star.
The Road to Success
After the major success of his independent tracks—including “Brothers,” “Goat,” and “Leaked”—Lil Tjay quickly caught the attention of major labels. In late 2018, he signed with Columbia Records, which released his debut EP, “No Comparison.” In August 2019, he dropped his second EP, “F.N,” featuring popular singles like “Ruthless” with Jay Critch and “Laneswitch.” The album was Tjay’s first release to hit the Billboard 200 chart and served as a preview of his full-length studio debut, “True 2 Myself.” The album went gold and peaked at number five on the main U.S. chart.
In 2020, following his debut’s success, Lil Tjay released his third EP, “State of Emergency,” which charted in the top 40. The most successful tracks from the EP were “Zoo York” with Fivio Foreign and Pop Smoke. That same year also saw the release of his emotional R&B single, “None of Your Love.”
In 2021, Lil Tjay reached new heights with the hit “Calling My Phone,” featuring 6LACK, which debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song served as a launchpad for his second studio album, “Destined 2 Win,” which featured Polo G, Offset, Saweetie, and others. The album also landed in the top five of the Billboard 200. What’s interesting is that Lil Tjay never wanted mainstream stardom.
“I don’t write for virality,” he says, admitting he doesn’t even have apps like TikTok on his phone. Lil Tjay compares his songs to poetry: “It’s about making music that I like.”
Over the next two years, Lil Tjay continued to release hits, including “Not in the Mood,” “In My Head,” “Beat the Odds,” and “Give You What You Want.” But then something happened that would cast doubt on the future stardom of the “Prince of New York,” as Lil Tjay was sometimes called.
Between Life and Death
It happened just after midnight on June 22, 2022. Tjay had traveled to Edgewater, New Jersey, and was staying at a hotel. Lil Tjay recalls feeling anxious that day.
“I had a weird feeling all week. My bodyguard had left early because it was a family birthday. I was just hanging out with my friends, but I kept saying something was wrong.”
His hunch was right. That evening, Tjay and two friends parked his red Dodge Durango near a shopping center. An armed man approached the car, demanding their jewelry and money. An attempt to resist ended in a shooting: the rapper was shot seven times in the chest. He was airlifted and immediately underwent surgery. Long, painful weeks of recovery followed. Two months later, Tjay made his first public appearance and released the song “Beat the Odds,” in which he directly addresses the incident:
“‘Tjay, why you walking with all these damn pistols?’”
“I just tell ’em that’s ’cause I don’t wanna die.”
The music video shows scenes from the hospital: Lil Tjay in a gown and a brace rapping into a microphone. Tjay calls the incident the most difficult of his life—an event that forced him to deeply re-evaluate his own existence. At first, he didn’t even realize the seriousness of the situation. The weeks following the shooting passed in a medicated haze. It was only when the medication was reduced and his body began to heal that the real realization set in.
“For a while, it felt like some kind of game,” Lil Tjay says. “And then the real PTSD began.”
The Sacred Album ‘222’
Tjay calls his album “222” the deepest and most personal musical work he’s ever created. He says he uses it to share experiences he hadn’t talked about publicly before. On these tracks, he sounds confident and mature. While the album may not have hits on the level of “Calling My Phone,” it demonstrates an expansion of his creative range. Known for his melodic style, this time, Tjay adds more emotional depth to his sound—which is especially noticeable on the moving track “Someone Who Cares.” The album landed at number 24 on the Billboard 200.
The song “June 22nd”—a direct address to the events surrounding the shooting—conveys the anxiety and inner turmoil the rapper felt in the days leading up to that night. The entire album sounds more refined and cohesive than his previous work: smooth, deliberate, and carefully polished.
Tjay explains the title “222” as a symbol of change, a reference to a so-called “angel number,” and to the exact time of 2:22 a.m. on June 22, 2022, when he was airlifted from the parking lot. His recovery period was the first break in his career, allowing him to pause and re-evaluate his path.
The loss of his friend and colleague Pop Smoke in 2020, along with the realization that Tjay himself could have shared his fate, was a shock and a source of gratitude for him.
“I look at everything as a blessing,” he says. “When you can just breathe, sit, or think—that’s something.”
Style and Career Continuation
Lil Tjay primarily performs his songs in English, but sometimes uses Spanish, even though he isn’t fluent. His work is often compared to that of another New York rapper, A Boogie wit da Hoodie. Tjay describes his music as melodic rap, which he uses to re-evaluate his difficult past.
A Pitchfork review dubbed him “the heartthrob of hip-hop.” He has also been called the “Bronx’s Justin Bieber” due to his melodic style and appeal to a young, predominantly female fanbase.
In 2023, after his serious injury, Lil Tjay first appeared on the singles “Rich the Kid” and “Sleepy Hallow,” which was followed by successful tracks like “I Should’ve Known,” “Told Ya,” “No No,” “Took a While (Be Us),” and “Legacy.”
In October 2024, Lil Tjay kicked off his “Past 2 Present” European tour, opening with a show at the O2 Arena in London. The tour marked the fifth anniversary of his debut album, “True 2 Myself,” and served as a retrospective journey through his entire music career—from his early hits to his latest releases. He was joined on stage by Key Glock, RealestK, and UK guests hand-picked by Tjay himself.
Despite the challenges he’s faced along the way, the 23-year-old artist from the Bronx is confidently looking ahead. In the past five years, he’s earned nine platinum singles as a lead artist, his hit features with Pop Smoke and Ice Spice have become true anthems for a generation, and his story is a testament to how honesty and talent can pave the way from the streets to global stages.