LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 23: Lil Tjay attends the 2019 BET Awards at Microsoft Theater on June 23, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images)

A recent interview offered a stark reminder of how quickly life changed for Lil Tjay after a 2022 shooting left him fighting for his life. Speaking on HOT 97’s Mornings With Mero, the Bronx artist revisited the disorientation of waking from a coma. He described a moment that felt unmoored from time and memory. “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.’”

He said the conversation that followed only deepened his confusion as he tried to piece together what had happened while he was unconscious. “She told me, ‘You didn’t look so good last week,’” he continued. “And I’m like, ‘Last week?’” The idea that days had passed without his awareness, he suggested, was difficult to process in real time.

In recalling those early moments, he described a complete lack of orientation. “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 had been shot multiple times in Edgewater, New Jersey. Later, he underwent emergency surgery. The news of his condition at the time rippled through hip-hop. This prompted concern from fans and support from peers across the industry.

Lil Tjay Reflects on Life After the Shooting

Looking back, Tjay said the experience reshaped how he understood control, risk, and vulnerability. While discussing “Do What I Can,” a track from his album They Just Ain’t You, he reflected on a mindset that shifted abruptly after the shooting. “I never thought I’d get shot,” he said. “I just thought I could do whatever I want.”

He added that the experience disrupted any 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.

Since then, Tjay said, both his personal choices and his approach to music have become more deliberate. They are shaped by an awareness of how fragile circumstances can be.