Lil Tecca

Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe was born in New York City and grew up in Springfield Gardens, Queens. His parents migrated from Jamaica, and his Jamaican household influenced his musical tastes and exposure to Caribbean music. He later moved to Cedarhurst on Long Island and attended Lawrence High School.

Sharpe initially dreamed of playing in the NBA and spent much of his youth playing basketball at Springfield Park. At 12, he redirected his focus toward music after becoming interested in hip-hop artists such as Chief Keef and Speaker Knockerz. He has also cited Michael Jackson, Coldplay, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill, Lil Uzi Vert, and Gunna among his influences.

Lil Tecca's interest in rapping began while he was playing Call of Duty with friends on Xbox Live. After roasting a friend during an exchange, he used his sister's laptop, downloaded Audacity, recorded a short track, and uploaded it to SoundCloud. He and his friends later made diss tracks aimed at one another and at people from his school, although those early recordings were deleted.

His first notable release was "Tectri," a 2017 collaboration with Gummybear. He followed it with early tracks including "Callin," while songs such as "My Time," "Love Me," and "Count Me Out" helped establish his early sound. The name Lil Tecca came from an Instagram user whose name also included a variation of "Tecca." At the time, he used the name Tecca Hilfiger before adopting the suggestion to call himself Lil Tecca.

Lil Tecca reached mainstream prominence with "Ransom," first uploaded to Cole Bennett's Lyrical Lemonade YouTube channel in May 2019. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a major streaming success. A remix featuring Juice WRLD was released in August 2019 and later joined the original song on Tecca's debut mixtape, We Love You Tecca.

Released on August 30, 2019, We Love You Tecca peaked at number four on the Billboard 200 and included the follow-up singles "Love Me" and "Did It Again." Tecca also collaborated with Internet Money and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie on "Somebody," which became another Billboard Hot 100 entry. His early success led to further collaborations with artists including The Kid Laroi, Lil Tjay, Lil Uzi Vert, and Lil Mosey.

Tecca released his debut studio album, Virgo World, in September 2020. The album peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200 and included "Dolly," featuring Lil Uzi Vert. In 2021, he released We Love You Tecca 2, which also reached number ten on the Billboard 200 and featured Gunna, Iann Dior, Chief Keef, Trippie Redd, Nav, and Lil Yachty. He subsequently toured with tana, Bktherula, and yvngxchris on the Tecca Loves You Tour.

Following We Love You Tecca 2, Tecca released singles including "Fallin," "Faster," "Treesha," and "Blessing." He collaborated with ArrDee on a remix of "Flowers (Say My Name)" and with Mabel on "Let Love Go." In 2023, he issued "Need Me," "500lbs," "Hvn on Earth" with Kodak Black, and "Dead or Alive."

His third studio album, Tec, was released on September 22, 2023. The 16-track project included a bonus track, received generally positive critical reviews, and debuted at number eleven on the Billboard 200. The bonus track "Down with Me" later received a music video and was released as a single in January 2024.

Tecca released the two-song set "Never Last" and "Number 2" in May 2024, followed by "Taste" and "Bad Time." His fourth studio album, Plan A, arrived on September 20, 2024, debuting at number nine on the Billboard 200 and number 66 on the UK Albums Chart. Don Toliver made the album's sole guest appearance.

Tecca began the rollout for his fifth studio album, Dopamine, with the single "Dark Thoughts" in March 2025. He followed it with "Owa Owa" in May.

Dopamine was released on June 13, 2025, and featured a guest appearance from Ken Carson. The album extended Tecca's sequence of studio projects following Virgo World, We Love You Tecca 2, Tec, and Plan A.