Lil Tjay is one of the brightest young stars coming out of New York right now. You've likely seen his name around and you've definitely heard his feature on Polo G's smash hit "Pop Out" in the last couple of months. The 18-year-old Bronx native is making a career out of all that he's lived through thus far, spitting melodic bars about his life growing up in the mean streets of New York. He's looked at as one of the future torch-bearers of the city and that title has come for good reason -- Tjay already has a number of successful tracks under his belt, including "Brothers" and "Ruthless." We featured him on our recent article about the top 20 rappers aged 20 and under and he stopped by the office to chat about his blossoming status as a rap star, how he got to this point and why we need to be paying attention.
On the latest episode of On The Come Up, 18-year-old Lil Tjay speaks about his short career thus far and how he knew he was destined for big things. "I just hit the studio and started working," says Tjay, as if his choice was purely instinctual. There doesn't appear to have been much thought put into the decision to pursue a career in music. It's as if he already knew his purpose and his body just guided him to the stu. "From when I first started it was serious. I went to the studio on the first day and I think the next time I went back was the next day. Every time I saved up my check so it was enough to go to the studio," he said.
At first, Tjay had no clue what he was doing in the booth. He took some time to learn about ad-libs and transitions, picking up quickly and getting to work from there. Now signed to Columbia Records, Tjay doesn't see much difference between his life as an independent artist and as a signed musician. He's dropping less music now but when he does get the green light, he knows he's got to release some magic. As for his No Comparison EP, he says he actually filled it up with five days' worth of songs he knew he could part with. If that tells us anything about what we can expect from his debut album, it means that Tjay could be sitting on something special whenever that drops.
The 18-year-old's debut album is not yet set in stone. There is no release date or title but he already has some songs put aside for it. As for his 10-year-plan, he thinks that he'll still be rapping when he's nearing his thirties. Of course, only time will tell where he's standing at that point.
Lil Tjay has the potential to become the next big thing from New York. Watch his new interview with us above and be sure to peep our OTCU playlist below.