Tyga profile: The rapper and boyfriend of Kylie Jenner who is never far from the headlines

Tyga rose to prominence as part of Lil Wayne’s Young Money Cash Money rap troupe, yet most of the headlines about him focus on his relationship with the youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner clan, Kylie, 18.

This week he was forced to defend himself, through his management, after a 14-year-old girl organised a press conference (alongside celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred) to quash a US magazine’s suggestion that she had some sort of relationship with the rapper.

The 26-year-old admitted contacting the girl to TMZ - but said it was for business purposes in relation to her music and fanbase. TMZ also reports the messages indicated the girl was 17.

Tyga, real name Micheal Ray Stevenson, chose his rap name because his mother used to say he looked like golfer Tiger Woods while also being an acronym for “Thank You God Always” – something he recently revealed on an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians.

He was born in 1989 in Compton, California – where gangsta rap pioneers NWA burst onto the scene in the 1980s and subsequently The Game and Kendrick Lamar emerged.

In 2012, the LA Times disputed his Compton ‘hood’ past by revealing a clip from an MTV show showing a teenage Tyga saying he grew up in the Valley and his parents had a Range Rover.

Tyga hit back on Twitter, writing, “When u 14 an ambitious u don’t give a f*** about anything. Scripted tv isn’t that what we all live for. Hahaha.” (sic)

He caught the attention of Lil Wayne by releasing various mixtapes showcasing his skills and in 2007 signed with Young Money Entertainment. He soon featured on "Bedrock" - a song featuring Lil Wayne, Tyga and other YMCM artists including Drake and Nicki Minaj.

A feud with Drake and Minaj took place years later, despite collaborating with the pair on various singles, which was made public when he labelled Drake “fake” (with possibly no intention of rhyming) reportedly telling Vibe: “I don’t really get along with Drake. I don’t really get along with Nicki. I don’t like Drake as a person. He’s just fake to me.”

open image in gallery

His biggest solo song in the UK was the 2011/2012 hit "Rack City", which was played in clubs and student unions nationwide and reached the top 10 of the US Billboard charts.

More recently, he released an album with good friend Chris Brown, called Fan of a Fan, which peaked at number 7 on the UK’s official album chart.

Despite his fairly successful rap career, in his personal life Tyga has been the subject of several legal issues.

In 2012, he was sued by three women who featured in his music video for the song "Make It Nasty" for allegedly showing their nipples without their permission. He was then sued by another woman who claimed she was sexually assaulted by someone on the same video shoot, according to TMZ.

In August 2015 he was sued by his former landlord who claimed Tyga owed him $70,000 in unpaid rent, People reports. Tyga sued the landlord for breach of contract in a separate suit over these claims.

In his romantic life, Tyga has also made headlines. He was engaged to Blac Chyna, the mother of his three-year-old son King Cairo, before the couple split in 2014.

Following this, there was much speculation he was romantically involved with Kylie Jenner, who was 17 at the time. Photos of the pair visiting children’s homes together and her supporting him at concerts did little to dispel these rumours.

Jenner confirmed their relationship in an episode of Keeping up with the Kardashians, when she happened to be celebrating her 18th birthday where he gifted her a Ferrari thought to cost at least $250,000.

The rapper released a song 'Stimulated' in 2015 which contained sexually explicit lyrics referencing a younger girl and featured Jenner in the music video for the song.