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Artist Tione Merritt (born April 30, 1998) known professionally as Lil Tjay, is an American rapper and songwriter from The Bronx, New York. Lil Tjay is best known for his singles “Resume” and “Brothers”. His most popular song “Brothers” has received 32.7 millions plays on SoundCloud and caught the attention of Columbia Records. Lil Tjay is now signed to Columbia Records and is a staple on SoundCloud’s Top 50 chart.

Artistry
The 17 year old rapper is known for his melodic flow and lyrics that are tailored to his life. When asked if the term "mumble rap" applies to him in an interview with Complex, Lil Mosey says "I wouldn’t consider myself a mumble rapper, because I don’t know what that is. But when I talk, I mumble."Although Lil Mosey does not consider his sound to be similar to Meek Mill's, he does consider the rapper an influence as in an interview with XXL Magazine, he describes how he would always listen to Meek Mill's single titled "Dreams and Nightmares" when he was younger. When asked in the same interview about what comparisons he has drawn, Mosey responded "Music-wise, they be comparing me to Drake".

Live Performances
Lil Mosey has toured with rappers Smooky MarGielaa, Lil Tjay and Smokepurpp. In 2018, Lil Mosey was on tour with rappers Juice Wrld and YBN Cordae, while being the opening act for Juice Wrld's WRLD Domination Tour. He has also received a co-sign from Lil Xan, and he says his first real live performance as an established artist came when Lil Xan brought him on stage during his concert in Seattle, Washington. The rapper also performed at Rolling Loud, a reoccurring music festival in America, during 2018 and described it as the biggest place he has performed at in an interview with XXL Magazine.

Lil Tjay Article Draft

Early life
Lil Tjay was raised in the South Bronx. Born Tione Merritt, Lil Tjay has always called 183rd Street in the Bronx home. He lived with his mother and two younger siblings. Livening in a roomy apartment, he sees himself as the problem child of the family. In middle school, Lil Tjay began to get into fights and partake in petty robberies. He served multiple two and three-month sentences. In 2016, at the age of 15, he was sentenced to one year at a youth detention center. This longer time period influenced Lil Tjay who began writing lyrics. In late 207, Lil Tjay made a promise to his mother stating he will not continue with his old ways after being granted freedom. This change started to appear as soon as he stepped into a recording studio for the first time.

Before being introduced to a studio, he had made some songs on his phone or his computer, using bars designed to be spit in a traditional hip-hop style. The recording studio allowed him to reflect on his years of singing the Usher and Michael Jackson songs his mom would play. On a whim, he decided to sing his lyrics. That first day, he recorded the anti-love song, “Resume.” The song was paired with a homemade video of Tjay hanging out in a small apartment. Soon enough, the track began to organically bubble up online. After the positive response, instead of spending long days on the streets, with no plan and no school, he started dedicating himself to his work with just a notebook and a pen.

Tjay then implemented a release strategy to ensure his newfound buzz wouldn’t fizzle out. He paid close attention to his SoundCloud plays and Instagram impressions, only putting out new material when the stats on his previous tracks flatlined.

Soon, record labels started calling. Eventually, he hired a lawyer and joined up with Columbia Records, current home to artists including Beyoncé, Tyler, the Creator, and Barbra Streisand.

Career
In 2017, Lil Tjay began releasing music, such as the singles "Resume" and "Brothers" on SoundCloud. He signed with Columbia Records after they noticed his song "Brothers" which had amassed millions of streams on SoundCloud. “Brothers,” his most successful song, is dour pop. Through a joyous Auto-Tuned gargle, Tjay raps about death, dejection, and incarceration. After his time in jail for a robbery charge, Lil Tjay practiced the fundamentals for his rapping career.

The first song he recorded when he got out was “Resume.” Lyrically, the song is a crude screed against “average” women; it showed an inkling of Tjay’s sense of songcraft and was recorded the first time he was in a studio. When he released the song on SoundCloud, Tjay barely had a social media presence. The only platform he used was Facebook. By his estimate, on the second day of its release, the song had 5,000 listens. A year later, the song is at 13.7 million streams on SoundCloud and over 8.5 million views on YouTube. He is now a regular staple on SoundCloud’s Top 50 chart, a growing bastion for major-label-backed artists.

Artistry
Influenced by his upbringing in the South Bronx, Lil Tjay sings in English and incorporates Spanish although he does not speak the latter fluently. His verses are half-sung and with "hooks smoothed by Auto-Tune."[1] He has been compared to A Boogie wit da Hoodie and in an interview with Rolling Stone, he credits his musical influences to Drake (musician) and Meek Mill. [1] In the same interview, Lil Tjay describes his music as adding a melodic sound when singing or rapping about his past struggles.[1] He also credits his success to his year spent in prison, where he claims that his ability to write songs peaked.[1]

Discography
Lil Tjay's most popular song "Brothers" has accumulated 32.7 million plays on online music streaming media SoundCloud.[7] Other notable singles include "Resume" which has 18.8 million plays on SoundCloud, and “Goat” which has 15.7 million plays.[7] In January 2019, Lil Tjay was featured on a Polo G single titled “Pop Out” which has 27 million views on YouTube and has reached number 52 on Apple Music’s Top Charts.[8]

More singles from Lil Tjay:

“Lucki” [7]

“Leaked” [7]

“Ride For You” [7]

“Long Time” [7]

“None Of Your Love” [7]

“Wet Em Up” [7]