Lil Tecca Bio
Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe, known professionally as Lil Tecca, is an American rapper and singer from Queens, New York. Born on August 26, 2002, he first captured mainstream attention with his 2019 single “Ransom,” which peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the following years, he built a steady catalog of mixtapes, studio albums, and RIAA-certified singles, establishing himself as a prominent voice in contemporary hip-hop.
Recording for Galactic and Republic Records, Lil Tecca has released a string of charting projects, including the mixtape We Love You Tecca (2019) and the studio albums Virgo World (2020), We Love You Tecca 2 (2021), Tec (2023), Plan A (2024), and Dopamine (2025). His sound blends melodic hooks with the rhythmic patterns of cloud rap, and his work has earned platinum certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America.
Early Life and Background
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, where his upbringing exposed him to a wide range of cultural influences that would later shape his musical perspective.
Sharpe later relocated from Queens to Cedarhurst, a village in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. He attended Lawrence High School, where he continued to develop his interest in music alongside his everyday studies. As a child, he dreamed of playing in the NBA, but at the age of 12, he redirected his focus toward music, drawn to hip-hop and inspired by artists such as Chief Keef and Speaker Knockerz.
His family background and the cultural mix of his Queens neighborhood provided a rich backdrop for his creative development. These early experiences helped him find his artistic voice and set the stage for his future in the music industry.
Path to Music
Lil Tecca’s earliest musical experiments began at the age of nine, when he started rapping over a microphone while playing Xbox with friends. He and his friends exchanged diss tracks, and Tecca uploaded two of these early songs to his SoundCloud account, although those tracks have since been removed.
His first notable release was the 2017 single “Tectri,” a collaboration with Gummybear. Following that debut, he continued uploading tracks, including “Callin” and others, gradually building a small but growing audience on SoundCloud. This online presence gave him the platform he needed to refine his style and reach listeners beyond his local circle.
He went on to release “Love Me” on October 29, 2018, a song produced by Dystinkt Beats that debuted at number 72 on the Canadian Hot 100 and number 65 on the US Rolling Stone Top 100. The single marked his first entry on major music charts and helped pave the way for the breakthrough that followed.
Lil Tecca Career
Early Career (2017–2018)
During his early years as a recording artist, Lil Tecca focused on building a presence on SoundCloud, releasing a series of tracks that showcased his melodic approach to rap. His debut single “Tectri” arrived in 2017, followed by additional songs that helped him gain traction with younger listeners who shared his tastes in cloud rap and related subgenres.
His 2018 single “Love Me” became his first song to appear on major charts, signaling that he was ready to move beyond the underground. These formative years gave him the experience and confidence he needed to prepare for a much larger stage.
Breakthrough (2019–2021)
Lil Tecca’s mainstream breakthrough arrived with “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 four on the Billboard Hot 100, accumulated over 1.4 billion streams on Spotify, and surpassed 500 million views on YouTube.
On July 24, 2019, he released “Did It Again,” which debuted at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming his second chart entry. By October 2023, “Did It Again” had been certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for combined sales and streaming equivalent units of over two million in the United States. On August 14, 2019, he released a remix of “Ransom” with Juice Wrld, and on August 30, 2019, he released his debut mixtape We Love You Tecca, which peaked at number four on the Billboard 200.
He expanded his profile through collaborations, joining Internet Money and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie on “Somebody” in October 2019, and later contributing to The Kid Laroi’s “Diva” in January 2020. On September 18, 2020, he released his debut studio album Virgo World, and on August 27, 2021, he followed up with his second studio album We Love You Tecca 2, a sequel to his debut mixtape featuring guest appearances from Gunna, Iann Dior, Chief Keef, Trippie Redd, Nav, and Lil Yachty.
Notable Works and Milestones
Signature releases include “Ransom,” “Did It Again,” “Never Left,” “500lbs,” and the albums We Love You Tecca, Virgo World, and We Love You Tecca 2, with platinum certifications from the RIAA marking key commercial achievements throughout this breakthrough period.
Continued Success (2022–2024)
In 2022 and 2023, Lil Tecca released a string of singles, including “Show Me Up,” “Never Left,” “Money on Me,” “Repeat It” featuring Gunna, “Fallin,” “Faster,” “Treesha,” “Need Me,” “500lbs,” “Hvn on Earth” with Kodak Black, and “Dead or Alive.” On September 22, 2023, he released his third studio album Tec, which debuted at number eleven on the US Billboard 200 and received generally positive reviews from critics.
In 2024, he released “Never Last,” “Number 2,” “Taste,” and “Bad Time,” and on September 20, 2024, he released his fourth studio album Plan A, which debuted at number nine on the US Billboard 200 and number 66 on the UK Albums Chart, featuring a sole guest appearance from Don Toliver.
2025–Present: Dopamine
On March 14, 2025, Lil Tecca released “Dark Thoughts,” the lead single from his fifth studio album Dopamine. On May 30, he followed with the album’s second single, “Owa Owa,” before releasing Dopamine on June 13, 2025.
Lil Tecca Award Nominations
Publicly verified nominations are not available from the provided sources, so a detailed summary of award nominations cannot be presented with confidence at this time.
Lil Tecca Awards Won
Publicly verified information about specific award wins is not available from the provided sources, so a detailed summary of awards won cannot be presented with confidence at this time. Several of his singles have nevertheless earned RIAA certifications, including two-times platinum status for “Did It Again” and platinum status for “Never Left” and “500lbs.”
Lil Tecca Family
Lil Tecca was raised by Jamaican immigrant parents in the Springfield Gardens neighborhood of Queens, New York. The cultural background of his family played a meaningful role in shaping his early years and the diverse influences present in his upbringing. Publicly available details about siblings or extended family members are limited.
Personal Life
During interviews in 2023 with Jazzys World TV and Complex, Lil Tecca shared that if he were not a rapper, he would have pursued a career as a heart surgeon. He later relocated from Queens to Cedarhurst, a village in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. Beyond these public comments, additional verified details about his personal life are not available from the provided sources.