Screenshot of Lil Tjay’s ‘222’ cover art
Lil Tjay Drops His Third Studio Album '222'
In a compelling comeback after surviving a near-fatal incident, Lil Tjay unveiled his deeply personal narrative in the form of a brand new album, 222. Released on Friday (July 14), the 15-song project boasts features from Jadakiss, Coco Jones, Fivio Foreign, and several more.
Last month, the artist piqued fans’ interest for the LP with the release of its precursor single, “June 22nd.” The record commemorates the exact day he nearly lost his life in a shooting in 2022. As anticipation continued to build, the New York rapper also dropped a second single titled “Project Walls” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again.
The album spotlights an impressive cadre of collaborators, including Summer Walker on “Stressed,” The Kid LAROI on “2 Grown,” and Polo G on “Beat the Odds Pt 2,” to name a few. Venturing further into introspection, 222 sees Tjay plumbing the depths of his life experiences in a way he’s never done before.
In a recent chat with “MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME,” the rapper shed light on the intimate fabric of the project. He shared, “I got a little deeper than I normally do. I talk about family issues. June 22, I talk about expressing a little bit about how the day went, in a certain real halfway type of way… I personally feel like every song is gold, and I feel like this is my best album.”
In that same interview, Tjay delved into why he decided to name his LP 222. The artist explained, “My first album is True 2 Myself. The second one is Destined 2 Win. They both got 2s in it, and this my third,” he said. “Also, I got airlifted into the sky, like a helicopter pulled me up in the air. I seen the footage, and they’re like, ‘We’re taking off,’ and the time was 2:22. So I felt like that was another reason. And it’s an angel number.”
Lil Tjay stoked anticipation this past Monday (July 10) by releasing a brief trailer for the project. It focused on one of the most harrowing moments in the rapper’s life — the attempted robbery that escalated into the aforementioned shooting, providing a glimpse into the tragedy and its aftermath.