Biography
Beginning in the early 2010s, Ty Dolla $ign steadily accumulated chart successes, initially through featured appearances before centering his own sly and explicitly hedonistic contemporary R&B on headlining singles. Contributions to the “worldwide underground” efforts of Sa-Ra and Erykah Badu preceded his mainstream breakthrough on YG’s “Toot It and Boot It” in 2010; further collaborative hits followed, while solo projects such as Free TC in 2015 and Beach House III in 2017 came within striking distance of the Top Ten. His third LP, the Billboard 200 Top Ten entry Featuring Ty Dolla $ign, arrived in 2020. A 2021 partnership with dvsn produced Cheers to the Best Memories, and in 2023 he formed the project ¥$ with Kanye West, whose albums Vultures 1 and Vultures 2 both appeared in 2024.
Born Tyrone Griffin, Jr. in Los Angeles to musician Tyrone Griffin—who had played with Lakeside and Teena Marie—the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer began building his career during the 2000s. As one half of Ty & Kory, the younger Griffin appeared on Sa-Ra’s The Hollywood Recordings, Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, Shafiq Husayn’s Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka, and Black Milk’s Popular Demand. His first Billboard Hot 100 placement occurred in 2010 when he supplied the hook for YG’s “Toot It and Boot It,” an event that triggered ongoing studio work yielding both solo and collaborative releases throughout the decade.
Atlantic released his major-label debut single “Paranoid” in 2013, which later earned multi-platinum certification. Follow-up “Or Nah” became his second track to reach the Top Ten of Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart and likewise went multi-platinum. Additional singles and appearances on both commercial and underground projects led to the November 2015 release of debut album Free TC. Dedicated to his incarcerated brother, the guest-filled set opened at number 14 on the Billboard 200, supported by the gold or platinum-certified tracks “Blasé,” “Saved,” and “Wavy.”
Over the next two years Griffin extended his stylistic reach through contributions to pop hits such as Fifth Harmony’s “Work from Home,” the Suicide Squad: The Album smash “Sucker for Pain,” and Jason Derulo’s “Swalla.” Major Lazer and Nick Jonas also enlisted him, yet these mainstream and club-oriented efforts were offset by work for Fat Joe, 2 Chainz, and Meek Mill. As lead artist, the commercial mixtape Campaign surfaced shortly before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, reached the Top 30, and featured “No Justice,” a measured protest song recorded with his still-imprisoned brother. Second proper album Beach House III, previewed by the genre-spanning singles “Love U Better” with Lil Wayne and the-Dream and “So Am I” with Damian Marley and Skrillex, debuted at number 11 in October 2017.
For several subsequent years Griffin continued to thrive chiefly as a supporting artist. Among numerous collaborative one-offs were Post Malone’s Hot 100-topping “Psycho” and Khalid’s multi-platinum “OTW”; he and Jeremih then jointly issued the album MihTy. In 2019 he appeared on well over a dozen tracks, including Kehlani’s “Nights Like This,” Megan Thee Stallion’s number 11 hit “Hot Girl Summer,” and Skrillex’s “Midnight Hour,” the last of which received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. As lead artist in 2020 he issued July’s “Ego Death,” featuring Kanye West, FKA Twigs, and Skrillex, and August’s charting “Expensive,” which included Nicki Minaj. Both tracks preceded third album Featuring Ty Dolla $ign, released that October and debuting at number four on the Billboard 200—his first U.S. Top Ten entry as a headliner—along with further guest-laden singles such as “Spicy” with Post Malone and “By Yourself” with Jhené Aiko and Mustard.
After appearing on dvsn’s 2020 album A Muse in Her Feelings, he recorded the full-length collaboration Cheers to the Best Memories with the Canadian duo the following year. He also contributed to David Guetta’s “Family,” with the version featuring Bebe Rexha accumulating the highest streaming numbers. In 2022 he released the Wiz Khalifa collaboration “Champions” and the Mustard-produced “My Friends” featuring Lil Durk. Early 2023 brought the single “2022,” followed by the Alesso collaboration “Caught a Body” and the solo track “Motion.”
In 2023 Griffin joined Kanye West to create the project ¥$. The pair issued debut single “Vultures” in November, then gradually shared details ahead of the delayed full-length Vultures 1, released in February 2024. The set, which included appearances from Lil Durk, Freddie Gibbs, James Blake, and others, topped the Billboard 200 and spawned the chart-topping hit “Carnival” featuring Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti.
Although ¥$ initially stated that subsequent chapters Vultures 2 and Vultures 3 would follow monthly as a trilogy, Vultures 2 finally appeared in August 2024. That album again hosted numerous guests, among them Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Desiigner, and Kodak Black.
Born Tyrone Griffin, Jr. in Los Angeles to musician Tyrone Griffin—who had played with Lakeside and Teena Marie—the singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer began building his career during the 2000s. As one half of Ty & Kory, the younger Griffin appeared on Sa-Ra’s The Hollywood Recordings, Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah, Pt. 1: 4th World War, Shafiq Husayn’s Shafiq En’ A-Free-Ka, and Black Milk’s Popular Demand. His first Billboard Hot 100 placement occurred in 2010 when he supplied the hook for YG’s “Toot It and Boot It,” an event that triggered ongoing studio work yielding both solo and collaborative releases throughout the decade.
Atlantic released his major-label debut single “Paranoid” in 2013, which later earned multi-platinum certification. Follow-up “Or Nah” became his second track to reach the Top Ten of Billboard’s Hot R&B Songs chart and likewise went multi-platinum. Additional singles and appearances on both commercial and underground projects led to the November 2015 release of debut album Free TC. Dedicated to his incarcerated brother, the guest-filled set opened at number 14 on the Billboard 200, supported by the gold or platinum-certified tracks “Blasé,” “Saved,” and “Wavy.”
Over the next two years Griffin extended his stylistic reach through contributions to pop hits such as Fifth Harmony’s “Work from Home,” the Suicide Squad: The Album smash “Sucker for Pain,” and Jason Derulo’s “Swalla.” Major Lazer and Nick Jonas also enlisted him, yet these mainstream and club-oriented efforts were offset by work for Fat Joe, 2 Chainz, and Meek Mill. As lead artist, the commercial mixtape Campaign surfaced shortly before the 2016 U.S. presidential election, reached the Top 30, and featured “No Justice,” a measured protest song recorded with his still-imprisoned brother. Second proper album Beach House III, previewed by the genre-spanning singles “Love U Better” with Lil Wayne and the-Dream and “So Am I” with Damian Marley and Skrillex, debuted at number 11 in October 2017.
For several subsequent years Griffin continued to thrive chiefly as a supporting artist. Among numerous collaborative one-offs were Post Malone’s Hot 100-topping “Psycho” and Khalid’s multi-platinum “OTW”; he and Jeremih then jointly issued the album MihTy. In 2019 he appeared on well over a dozen tracks, including Kehlani’s “Nights Like This,” Megan Thee Stallion’s number 11 hit “Hot Girl Summer,” and Skrillex’s “Midnight Hour,” the last of which received a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. As lead artist in 2020 he issued July’s “Ego Death,” featuring Kanye West, FKA Twigs, and Skrillex, and August’s charting “Expensive,” which included Nicki Minaj. Both tracks preceded third album Featuring Ty Dolla $ign, released that October and debuting at number four on the Billboard 200—his first U.S. Top Ten entry as a headliner—along with further guest-laden singles such as “Spicy” with Post Malone and “By Yourself” with Jhené Aiko and Mustard.
After appearing on dvsn’s 2020 album A Muse in Her Feelings, he recorded the full-length collaboration Cheers to the Best Memories with the Canadian duo the following year. He also contributed to David Guetta’s “Family,” with the version featuring Bebe Rexha accumulating the highest streaming numbers. In 2022 he released the Wiz Khalifa collaboration “Champions” and the Mustard-produced “My Friends” featuring Lil Durk. Early 2023 brought the single “2022,” followed by the Alesso collaboration “Caught a Body” and the solo track “Motion.”
In 2023 Griffin joined Kanye West to create the project ¥$. The pair issued debut single “Vultures” in November, then gradually shared details ahead of the delayed full-length Vultures 1, released in February 2024. The set, which included appearances from Lil Durk, Freddie Gibbs, James Blake, and others, topped the Billboard 200 and spawned the chart-topping hit “Carnival” featuring Rich the Kid and Playboi Carti.
Although ¥$ initially stated that subsequent chapters Vultures 2 and Vultures 3 would follow monthly as a trilogy, Vultures 2 finally appeared in August 2024. That album again hosted numerous guests, among them Lil Wayne, Young Thug, Desiigner, and Kodak Black.
Albums
Singles
