Lil Tjay has shared the advice he received from veteran rapper and television mogul 50 Cent after he recovered from being shot.
Lil Tjay was shot and injured in New Jersey after a man tried to rob him and his friends while they sat in his car at a mall parking lot. The rapper received seven (7) shots about the body and was hospitalized in critical condition as he battled for his life. Luckily, the rapper recovered unscathed without any major damage to his body.
In a new interview with Rolling Stone, the Bronx rapper shared that shortly after the shooting, he received some solid advice from 50 Cent.
“Every artist needs pain or something to feed off of. This right here, you shake this sh*t off,” Tjay said the rapper told him while he was still hospitalized but recovering.
“You got the length for greatness. You going to be bigger than ever,” 50 Cent added.
This advice coming from 50 Cent might be more meaningful than if it came from someone else because 50 Cent has been in a similar position in the past. The rapper narrowly escaped death in the year 2000 after being shot nine times. The injuries did not stop the Fifty, who went on to release his debut album three years later. That album, Get Rich or Die Tryin, is one for the history books as it catapulted Fifty’s career and helped to cement him as a force to be reckoned with.
In his interview, Lil Tjay said 50 Cent revealed that he also received a phone call- from Diddy, who gave him the same advice and support he was now giving to Tjay. He noted that Diddy called him to show support, too.
Lil Tjay also recalled the moment he was shot, noting that everyone around him feared the worse.
“I don’t even know [if] I knew it was seven times,” he said. “When them sh*ts get to hittin’ you, it’s different. When it’s again and again, it’s like, yo! I ain’t going to lie, everybody, that was there and seen me—undeniably it looked like it was over.”
The rapper also recollected the moments he regained consciousness five days after being in a coma, but it felt like mere hours when he awoke.
“The hospital lady came over to me like, ‘Hey, you didn’t look so good the other day, bud… I’m thinking, ‘The other day? What you mean, the other day?'” the rapper recalled his conversation with the nurse.
The rapper also spoke about his fears that he might have lost his voice as a bullet was stuck in his neck and had to be removed after he regained consciousness.
“I could feel the bullet, too,” he said. “She’s touching my neck, and I could feel a bullet, and I’m like, ‘Yo, this is crazy.’ All I’m thinking is, ‘What? I got a story to tell'” Tjay said about the brave moment.
The rapper recently marked his return to music with a collaboration with Ice Spice, “Gangsta Boo,” which samples Diddy’s song. Tjay has also teased that he is working on new music to be released this year.
