Lil Tecca

Certain hallmarks of youth—like the braces a high-school-aged Lil Tecca still wore when his breakout song, “Ransom,” made him famous in 2018—may be temporary.

But the New York rapper’s charm and authenticity are qualities that don’t fade.

Queens native Tecca, born Tyler-Justin Anthony Sharpe in 2002, started rapping at age nine, freestyling dis tracks with his friends on Xbox.