Lil Tjay is opening up about one of the most traumatic moments of his life, recalling what it felt like waking up from a coma after surviving a near-fatal shooting in 2022.
During a recent appearance on Mornings With Mero on Hot 97, the Bronx rapper described the confusion and shock he experienced when he first regained consciousness in the hospital following the incident.
"I just remember waking up," Tjay said. "It was a doctor or nurse named Lauren. She walked in and was like, 'Oh, he's up.'"
The rapper explained that the moment felt surreal and unlike anything he expected.
"She told me, 'You didn't look so good last week,'" he continued. "And I'm like, 'Last week?'"
Tjay said he had no idea how much time had passed or even what had happened to him.
"It didn't feel like nothing," he said. "I didn't even know what happened. I didn't even know where I was at."
The rapper was shot multiple times during a 2022 incident in Edgewater, New Jersey, and underwent emergency surgery afterward. At the time, news surrounding his condition sparked widespread concern across hip-hop, with many artists and fans rallying around him during recovery.
Looking back now, Tjay said the experience dramatically changed his perspective on life and forced him to confront his own vulnerability for the first time.
"I never thought I'd get shot," he admitted while discussing the outro track "Do What I Can" from his latest album, They Just Ain't You. "I just thought I could do whatever I want."
The near-death experience, he explained, shattered the sense of invincibility he once carried.
"The fact that I took any type of L or anything even happened to me that I didn't plan, I was just like, 'Oh shit, I could be just like anybody else,'" he said.
Tjay added that the shooting and recovery process made him more intentional moving forward, both personally and musically.
