Tyga is no stranger to music as he has been recording his own vocals since the age of 14 and rapping since he was 11. Not one to fall under the guise of the stereotypes in which rappers face, Tyga is a breath of fresh air to the rap game with a style that can’t be described and most definitely has never been done. As well as being one of hip-hop’s rising starts, Tyga runs his own label GED, Inc., which his best friend and fellow talented artist Gata is signed to.

With his new single, “Coconut Juice”, doing well on radio and his album scheduled for a June 10th release, it’s only a matter of time before Tyga is a household name. Sixshot.com caught up with Tyga to discuss his new album, his diverse style, and being signed to Lil Wayne.

You were raised in Compton, California, what was life like for you growing up?

Compton, you know, certain parts are bad, certain parts aren’t but I always kept to myself. Out here it’s real easy to get caught up in the gangs and everything because everybody does it but I was always focused on my music. I never let it get to me.

And when did you get into music?

I think I was like 11. I started rapping and recording verses when I was like 13 because I got my own studio. Ever since then I been doin’ it. I was watching a Busta Rhymes video and it really inspired me because he was rapping in double time and I told my mother that I could do that. I started working on my rhymes and I’m still doin’ it.

At what point did you decide this was gonna be your career?

Probably like 14 or 15, I was in eight grade and I had the little home studio and I was about to graduate from middle school. I would come home everyday from school and I wasn’t doing my homework, my homework to me was to make a new song. It kinda messed me up because like in the 9th and 10th grade I dropped out for like a year because I felt it wasn’t doing anything for me. I felt like music was helping me way more than school was. I went back and I finished but I would say 14 is when I decided I was really gonna take the whole music thing seriously. 

I got my first tattoo when I was 14 too, I just didn’t care, and this is what I wanted to do. I wasn’t gonna work. I always had my music on the internet; I think I had a page on Black Planet. I had a Soundclick page; I was just on the grind.

You got listed as one of the 51 greatest rappers on Myspace, which is pretty good considering how many are actually on Myspace, how did that feel?

It was definitely a good feeling. In Cali people know me for that. If anybody mentioned my name, rap music would come up. I’ve been a rapper since middle school so I definitely feel appreciative. I feel like if I left the Earth tomorrow I still accomplished something. It’s great that people acknowledge that. It could be bad because there’s pressure and stuff that you gotta live up to but I never let it get to me. That’s how your brain and your mind gets cluttered so I never let the pressure get to me. I think it’s a good accomplishment though.

You’ve been having a lot of success and getting a lot of attention, when did that start?

I would say like a year ago when my cousin (Travis, of Gym Class Heroes) started getting involved in my music. He introduced me to a whole other lifestyle that you knew existed but you didn’t know how to get there. When he brought me out on stage the feeling was incredible, it was like everything in the past was irrelevant now. Definitely, the touring was big because there’s like 20,000 people there and they all care about what you have to say.

Your style is different, how would you describe it?

Lil Wayne told me one time that a lot of people depend on their flow and that was real to me but I don’t depend on my flow. I just feel the music and I just rap. People will ask what type of beat I’m looking for or whatever and I just wanna hear everything because I have no distinct style. I just go wherever the music takes me. However the music speaks to me is how I come with the track. I wouldn’t know how to describe it because I’m not just one type of rapper. I just wanna make music.

You also got your own company, tell us about that.

Yeah that’s GED, Inc. I have that tattooed above my eyebrows too because it stands for getting every dollar, getting educated daily, and grinding every day. My best friend and me came up with that when we were still at my house using the studio there. My best friend is Gata and he’s gonna be coming out soon then we got a girl name Arc from Houston so we got a lot of talent. I’m already setting it up so that when people get tired of me, which they won’t, I got more for them. It’s definitely gonna be big in the future.

What made you decide to start your own label?

I just wanted something that I could say was mine. I’m the type of person that doesn’t like to follow, I like to lead. I like GED because that’s what it’s all about, getting every dollar and grinding every day. At the same time I’m getting educated as I do this. I used to tell people it meant getting every dollar but then I started hitting them with the other meanings, it could mean a lot of things.

Cali seems to be making a comeback, how do you feel about this new school of West Coast MC’s?

I like it, it’s good. At the same time, I feel like a lot of the artists are trying to do what’s already been done as far as N.W.A and dudes like that. I don’t feel that way about Game though, I could relate to everything he says. I’m not a gangsta rapper but they show me love because I grew up where they grew up but at the same time I’m doing something different. I work with Jay Rock from Watts and of course, there are artists like Glasses Malone, Bishop Lamont and all these guys know me. It’s a good feeling. It’s like a big circle out here in the West and I feel we’re showing a lot of unity right now. It’s definitely gonna be big for the West. We got something for everybody. People don’t even think I’m from L.A unless I tell them.

Aight man, what do you have coming up that we can check for?

I got the album that’s coming out June 10th; I got the single, “Coconut Juice”, which is buzzin’ right now. I got a mixtape series that’s about to come out. Since my album drops on June 10th, I’m gonna drop a mixtape on the 10th of each month. I’m on Lil Wayne’s album, Tha Carter III, when that comes out it’s gonna be crazy. I stay in the studio all the time. It’s always a lot of new projects.

No doubt man, anything you wanna say to the fans at Sixshot.com?

Yeah, a lot of people don’t know the meaning behind “Coconut Juice”; they just think I’m crazy or weird. I don’t drink but when I go to the club I might get something non-alcoholic just to have a cup. I’ll be drinking cranberry juice or whatever. One time somebody asked me what I was drinking and I said coconut juice and they thought I was serious; I was just trying to be funny or whatever. They went to the bar and all that and were asking for it. My friends and me laugh at it so I made a song about it. Music is about self-expression; you can do whatever you want.