You know that the “Rack City” rapper has a show on MTV, hit tracks and a serious relationship with a star of Keeping Up with the Kardashians under his belt. (Kylie Jenner doesn’t go by “King Kylie” for no reason.) But what don’t you know about Tyga? Click through to read some surprising facts about this rising star in the rap game.
Straight outta Compton?
Pictured here with Demetrius Shipp Jr., the actor who will portray Tupac Shakur in the upcoming biopic All Eyez On Me, Tyga definitely had the “California Love.” However, there is some controversy over where in California Tyga really grew up. Though today, he claims that Los Angeles neighborhood Compton was his hometown — the same place that birthed rap group N.W.A. — a leaked video from unaired MTV game show Bustas shows Tyga stating that he’s actually from the San Fernando Valley… and that his parents drove Range Rovers. Awk.
He wasn’t always Tyga
Nope, Tyga wasn’t actually born with his rap name. If you were to check his birth certificate, you would see that Tyga’s name is legally Michael Ray Nguyen-Stevenson. According to Biography, he chose Tyga as his nickname because his mother used to call him “Little Tiger Woods.”
His cousin is a celeb
Before Tyga became the Tyga, he already had music in his blood. His cousin is Gym Class Heroes’ Travie McCoy, the same singer who used to date Katy Perry. They collaborated together on Tyga’s debut track “Coconut Juice” in 2008.
His son has a powerful name
Tyga and his then-partner Blac Chyna named their son King Cairo Stevenson. The name “Cairo” means “victorious,” so Tyga’s son’s name definitely sets him up for success.
He loves exotic animals
Tyga, meet tiger. During a trip to Dubai, the rapper spent some time getting friendly with the animal that inspired his nickname. It wasn’t the only time he hung out with a jungle cat: Tyga actually owned a tiger for a little bit, before the animal was (smartly) taken away by authorities in 2014, reports TMZ.
His ethnic background
According to EthniCeleb.com, Tyga has some interesting heritage. His mother is reportedly Vietnamese and his father is of Afro-Jamaican descent.
He has beef with Drake
Tyga and the “Hold On, We’re Going Home” rapper don’t get along. Drake called out Tyga on his surprise full-length album If You’re Reading This, It’s Too Late after Tyga called the rapper “fake” in VIBE Magazinewith an alleged diss at Tyga’s relationship. Drake called out Jenner’s young age with the Tyga-directed line, “You need to act your age/Not your girl’s age.”
He loves water slides
Tyga lived out every kid’s dream when he installed a water slide from his bedroom window to his backyard pool on Season 1 of Kingin’ It with Tyga.
He tosses his sneakers
According to Tyga’s “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me” piece in Us Weekly, Tyga loooves Vans sneakers. In fact, he loves them so much that he’ll throw them away after one use!
He loves gold
Tyga may not like Drake, but he’s certainly like him in the sense that he wears “every single chain, even when he’s in the house.” According to his Us Weekly interview, Tyga is “obsessed” with gold — though given that his Instagram name is KingGoldChains, that much was obvious.
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