Micheal Ray Stevenson (born November 19, 1989), known professionally as Tyga (a backronym for Thank You God Always), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. After several independent releases, he signed a recording contract with Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment, an imprint of Cash Money Records and Republic Records in 2008. His second album and major label debut, Careless World: Rise of the Last King (2012), peaked at number four on the Billboard 200, received platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and was met with critical praise. It spawned the Billboard Hot 100-top ten single "Rack City", as well as the top 40 single "Faded" (featuring Lil Wayne). His third album, Hotel California (2013), was met with trailing critical and commercial response, along with his collaborative album with singer Chris Brown, Fan of a Fan: The Album (2015).
Due to disagreements with Young Money, Tyga's fourth album, The Gold Album: 18th Dynasty (2015), was released independently. Executive-produced by his then-common law relative Kanye West, it became his lowest-selling album to that point with estimated sales of 5,000 album equivalent units in its first week. His fifth and sixth albums, BitchImTheShit2 (2017) and Kyoto (2018), were both met with continued stagnation. His May 2018 single, "Taste" (featuring Offset), marked a brief period of commercial resurgence; it became his first top 40 single since 2015's "Ayo" (with Chris Brown)—peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100—and received diamond certification by the RIAA. It served as lead single and preceded the release of his seventh album, Legendary (2019).
