How Lil TJay almost died in a tragic robbery and changed his life
A sad reality of the hip-hop genre is that it will always be accompanied by violence. In part due to its origins, it was born at a time when New York City was experiencing unprecedented gang violence as a result of urban despair. This is not an issue which seems to be on the decline. In the last few years alone, the lives of Nipsey Hussle, Pop Smoke and XXXTentacion have been claimed by gun violence.
For some rappers, it almost seems like an inevitability that they will get shot. Still, it’s not something one can exactly prepare for. After an attack in Jamaica at his grandmother’s house, where he was shot nine times, 50 Cent recalls the sensations that he experienced: “It happens so fast that you don’t even get a chance to shoot back… I was scared the whole time … I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, ‘Oh shit, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.’”
Whilst some are content to just be alive, others channel these experiences into their art. In 2022, during an attempted robbery at an outdoor shopping plaza in Edgewater, New Jersey, Lil Tjay was shot seven times, sustaining severe injuries after bullets pierced his chest and neck. He remained in critical care for several days after being rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery.
After regaining consciousness, Tjay noted that he received a phone call from 50 Cent. In an interview with Rolling Stone, he recalls what the G-Unit rapper told him: “Every artist needs pain or something to feed off of. This right here, you shake this shit off. You got the length for greatness.”
“You going to be bigger than ever,” he concluded. The two would remain close from that point on, with 50 acting as a big brother figure to Lil Tjay. They would be pictured together in the months after the shooting backstage at a benefit concert for Motion Picture and Television in Los Angeles.
Taking 50s advice, in response to the attack, the East Coast rapper recorded ‘Beat the Odds’ which was his first release post-recovery. He revealed that some parts of the track were spawned when doctors were still draining blood from his lungs and its visual companion shows him rapping on a mic while sitting up in a hospital bed. The last shot of the visual a black screen with the words ‘I’m back” in white writing. It’s no surprise that the experience vastly shifted his outlook on life.
“I got airlifted into the sky at 2:22, and it was June 22, 2022,” he said. “When I searched those numbers, it was like ‘God’s giving you the opportunity to change.’ I questioned God before that. I don’t anymore. I know God’s real, a billion percent. I’m not on no tough-guy shit, or on some angel shit. I feel like a miracle kid. I feel like my purpose is bigger than I know. I’m just trying to figure out what life got in store for me. I know that I’m destined to win.”