No one in music was more impacted by the year of the pandemic than the breakout stars of 2019: musicians who had just begun to see their careers take off when suddenly, the brakes were slammed on. That Lil Tecca was one of those stars at all, let alone a leading light in the crowded field of melodic young trappers, was especially unlikely: instead of a grill, the 16 year old wore braces. Born in Queens, Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe moved to Cedarhurst, Long Island at age 12, where as a devoted gamer, he honed his neophyte verbal skills trading diss tracks with friends over Xbox, and cut his rap teeth on the likes of Chicago drill king Chief Keef. A high school-age realization that his dreams of playing in the NBA might not pan out saw Tecca turn his attention to music, posting songs to Soundcloud – and by 2017, people took notice. His breakout hit, “Ransom,” climbed all the way to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, and he capitalized on that momentum with his 2019 mixtape We Love You Tecca.
With a debut studio album and an even bigger tour in the works for 2020, everything seemed to be going according to plan. And then things went sideways. Tecca did manage to release some one-off singles and even released that full-length, Virgo World, in September, though it came and went quickly from the public eye. Despite a Top 10 debut, middling reviews, no live support and Tecca being “not in a good place,” meant the record was quickly forgotten, and the rapper barely cares to discuss it.
Now he’s back, and recharged with We Love You Tecca 2. After a few years in the game, you get the feeling Tecca’s gained some Zen wisdom about it all: “I ain’t even stress if it’s out of my control,” he concedes on “Investigation,” adding, “Waiting on my time, still being patient.” We talked in Manhattan’s Cutting Room Studios, with Tecca fresh off a blistering performance at Rolling Loud Miami. He was down-to-earth, thoughtful, determined as ever, and hopeful about the new album and his next chapter.
You looked happy to be back on stage the other night! Is it like riding a bicycle? Do you just never forget how?
Mm mmm [affirmative]. Honestly, I feel more like I am supposed to be there now. Like, I was never the type of person who would go up on a stage, jump in front of a lot of people. So when I first started doing it, it wasn’t natural. But I gained a lot of confidence in myself.
We Love You Tecca 2 is about to drop. How does it feel, and how does it compare to a year ago, when you were about to drop Virgo World but we were in the middle of COVID and you knew you couldn’t tour?
I ain’t gonna lie. This one feels way more like I have guidance, and just a direction. With Virgo World, everything just felt like the lights were off. Like I didn’t know where to go. I felt like I had no sort of direction for myself. But, for this one? It definitely feels way better.
This spring, you came back with “Show Me Up” and then “Never Left” which so many people connected with. But maybe I shouldn’t say “came back,” since the lyric specifically says, “Came back like I never left.”
Yeah I don’t want any of this to be labeled as a “comeback”, If I wanted it to be seen as a comeback I would have named the song “Comeback” or something, but it wasn’t that! [laughs] But that song? Honestly, when I heard the beat, bro, that was one of those ones where you could just tell. That beat, it spoke to me, and I was just freestylin’.
That line in the song – “Fashion, fashion, fashion fanatic” – reminded me of how a couple of years ago people were talking about an interview where you said something like, “I don’t need designer brands” or “I’m fine with my BAPE.” Do you think people have overplayed the idea that “Tecca says he doesn’t care about fashion, but he’s dropping designer references in lyrics, and now he’s out here wearing Prada”?
I mean – I do love clothes! But I don’t really care whatever people are saying.
Or for instance, they’ll say, “He took his braces off!” or “Is he wearing glasses now or nah?” Do you just tune that stuff out?
It’s more entertaining than anything. If I wasn’t me, I’d probably be one of those people commenting on other people. So, you just got to play a role, take it for what it is. But – I can’t say I’ve always been like that though. I had to learn to be like that.
There’s a line in “Seaside” with iann dior where you say, “Life is a movie, but I swear I’ll never rewind.” And it’s said in a relationship context, but I wonder if it applies to career as well. Because, looking back at last year and Virgo World, is there anything you would have done differently about that project?
Oh, no. I hate that shit. From 1 to 20 or whatever it is [it was 19] – I hate that whole shit.
What would you have done differently about it? Is it down to some of the producers or collaborators you worked with?
Nah, it was down to me, bro. I just hated myself at the time. You can’t blame that shit on no one else. When I think about that project, I just think about a time when I hated myself.
I just go through my ups and downs, and sometimes I am just way more down.
You don’t tweet very much. But a few days ago you wrote that “I go through so much self-doubt and anxiety that a moment of clarity does so much”. Do you want to share what that moment of clarity was, or where the anxiety comes from? Because it seems like you have had a great few years.
Well, the clarity – that moment just came from just finishing this project, like, fully. And my anxiety? It just comes from my mind going places. I am the type of person that will low-key rationalize where my head is going. And then, try to accept it, and try to tell myself like, “Hey, that’s just me, I guess.” And then, you start living as that person you believe you are. And it just gets more and more and more.
You don’t put a lot of those doubts or anxieties into your lyrics. I feel like most of them are confident, maybe defiant. You’re not someone I would ever call “emo.” Would you just rather not make your music about that kind of thing?
I do, I ain’t gon lie, I do. I’ll be saying some stuff, but sometimes I’ll be doing it in a way that it doesn’t come off as – you know, like, when I say “Everything, it make me furious” [from “Money On Me”] So, I be talking sometimes, but like – I’m still me. I’m still gonna come off as confident.
And also the beats – your music, for the most part, is upbeat.
Well, some of the happiest songs can have the saddest lyrics.
Since you mentioned that line, what are some of those things that make you furious, that set you off? Is it people or situations, or…?
[Shakes his head] I don’t know, I really don’t deal with a lot of people, for that reason. People are so weird, bro – or, not weird, but just – people are interesting.
You mean, fake, in a way?
Just like – doing too much that don’t need to be done. Nothing specific, either. But people just are not being themselves. You can tell when someone is just trying to fit in. And that – irks me.
I know you said you still don’t drive, and you’re not super flashy. Do you think it matters whether the songs reflect who you are in real life?
None of the people that listen to my music are gonna know me in real life. So my music is art for the people who like me. And if you like the art, you like it, and if you don’t, you don’t. When I make music, I’m not making non-fiction books. I’m just making what I like, for real. And it’s a blessing that some people like that too. I still – no one can tell me what to make. No one can tell me what to come out with. But it has to come with a balance in my mind of like, “Okay, I know this is a song that – I can probably support my family off this song, and I can probably not support my family off this other song.” And it’s like – do I sacrifice my future for my pleasure? Or do I find a way to come in the middle and make it work, and just do it?
It’s a balance. You can’t always get exactly what you want in life.
I’ve listened to the new album so much that I woke up this morning with Trippie’s voice singing, “Choppa shoot the loudest” in my head.
[Laughs] It’s a fire song. Me and Trippie did that in L.A. maybe five months ago.
And the first version I heard, Chief Keef wasn’t on it. But I know he’s a hero of yours, so that must mean a lot, having him on there.
Yeah Keef just hopped on like a week ago. But it was lit, bro. Cause I suggested having him on it! So when it happened, it felt good.
The line in “Money On Me” that says, “I don’t even want that Rollie, I don’t take it that serious” – has your relationship to money and fame changed these last few years?
Yeah, a whole lot. I just got to accept it. Cause like, there was a point where I didn’t know if I was doing anything, like I just didn’t know if this was for real.
Even after “Ransom” broke?
No, especially when “Ransom” came out! Like I was just confused, I didn’t know if this was really for real. And so I had to really just accept it, just take it for what it is, and not question it.
“Ransom” is that kind of a monster hit that people dream of, but I wonder sometimes if for some artists it becomes this huge thing that you feel like you’ve got to get out from under. Is there a downside to having something blow up like that song did?
It depends on your mindset. Because, at the end of the day, I made “Ransom.” Like – I made the biggest song of 2019! And so that song motivates me every day to make a song bigger than that! Why would you downplay yourself because you made something great?
“Investigation” for me is one of the most revealing tracks on this record. At one point in it, you say “Motivation, overrated.”
Yeah. Because basically, motivation is just another emotion that is volatile. It can go up and down. So if you live your life all on emotion, then you’re waiting on a feeling to come before you go and actually chase what you want. So why not be driven? People will sit around and wait for motivation to knock on their brain, like, “Here’s the time to do it!” and it’s like, no! Just do it now!
At the same time you don’t strike me as super competitive in the sense of “I’ve got to have more followers” or “I’ve got to do better numbers than that person.”
I mean, I’m in my own world. Because, bruh, at the end of the day, anything could happen to anyone tomorrow. And if the last thing you thought of is how good your Instagram is doing, or how good your numbers on a platform are doing – what did you really value in life? I just want to make sure I am happy for the right reasons, and not for a number. Because numbers will never stop. It’s a never-ending chase. And it’s the worst chase in the world, like, you might have a thousand today, you might have five million tomorrow. And it’s just – I like to be content.
Other than music – and basketball – was there ever any other career path you considered? Something unrelated to music?
Heart surgeon!
Heart surgeon? I thought you hated school. That’s a lot of school.
[Laughs] Yeah. I know. But I was just gonna say, “Fuck it!” – if I didn’t make it as a rapper, I was just gonna say, “Fuck it, I have no other choice but to be a heart surgeon.”
We Love You Tecca 2 is out August 27th Assuming he doesn’t end up in med school, Tecca should tour the album in 2022.