How Lil Tjay dodged death after being shot seven times
In 2022 disturbing reports began to circulate about the Bronx rapper Lil Tjay: he had been shot several times. The young rapper was alive, apparently, but, beyond that, details were scant. Confusion and rumour reigned.
Early reports seemed to indicate that police officers had been called to the scene of a “botched robbery attempt,” where they found Tjay with several gunshot wounds. He had two friends with him, one of whom had also been shot.
As for Tjay’s condition, the public was largely left in the dark. Some reports claimed he’d been sent into surgery following the shooting, but no official confirmation about that was forthcoming. Over the following days some really worrying rumours began to spread, with the most distressing claiming that Tjay had been left paralysed by the shooting. There were even concerns that he was now brain dead. Thankfully such rumours proved to be unfounded.
Solid news finally emerged a little over a week after the shooting, and it was good. Tjay was still in hospital, but he was “alert and talking.” His fans could breathe a sigh of relief, but it would be another while yet before they heard from the man himself. It was about 11 weeks later when Tjay took to social media to give everyone an update.
In a video he posted to Instagram, Tjay, wearing a neck brace and speaking from his hospital bed, revealed that he had been shot seven times. “Seven shots, it was tough, y’know?” he said. “Most people don’t survive it, but I’m here. Here for a reason.”
He went on to reveal that he was about to release new music, declaring, “We’re gonna come back stronger than ever.”
The new music arrived a couple of days later. ‘Beat the Odds’ directly referenced his shooting, and its accompanying video included footage shot during his stay in hospital. “I took seven shots, no shame,” he raps in the song. “Back to wall, I’m still gonna blow you down, I ain’t no stain.”
In the years following the shooting, Tjay would open up a bit more about his ordeal. Speaking to Billboard in 2023, he recalled how bad things had actually been. “When I was in the hospital, I remember I woke up and couldn’t get out the bed or nothing,” he said. “I had a tube in my throat and couldn’t brush my teeth. It was for days, and the amount of money I would have paid if they allowed me to brush my teeth is crazy.”
Tjay had taken injuries to lungs, neck and chest, and he very well might have died had he not received the appropriate medical attention. In another 2023 interview with GQ, he admitted that, at first, he had struggled to take in what had happened to him, particularly in light of how many painkillers he was on. But as he began to recover, and as the pill-induced, medicated haze faded, the gravity of what had happened began to set in. “I [initially] thought it was like a game or some shit,” he noted. “The PTSD damn near kicking in now.”
It had been a terrible ordeal, and one that could easily have taken his life. But the rapper ultimately recovered from injuries and began to mentally come to terms with what had happened. “I look at everything as a blessing,” he told GQ. “’Cause anytime you have the ability to even think, breath, sit, or stand. You feel me? You blessed.”
A man was arrested following Tjay’s shooting, charged with attempted murder, armed robbery and several weapons offenses. Tjay wasn’t charged with anything, and, while his two friends were initially charged with weapons offenses, they were ultimately dropped. Tjay would go on to release new music and has more recently been involved in a bitter feud with Offset.