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The Hongcouver | Who is Lil Tay? Behind the illusion of the foul-mouthed nine-year-old Asian rapper and internet sensation

The rising internet star’s foul-mouthed videos are viewed by millions, but despite her persona as a streetwise Los Angeles gangsta, clues point to her living in Vancouver, with a realtor mother behind the camera

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Lil Tay strikes a typical pose, in a picture from her Instagram account, which has 1.4 million followers. Photo: Instagram/Lil Tay
Ian Youngin Vancouver

Lil Tay is a foul-mouthed Asian child rapper and rising internet star whose videos are viewed by millions.

She has more than 1.4 million followers on Instagram, although describing them as fans would be a stretch – they mostly delight in heaping her with abuse, in racist or crude terms that match her own lexicon.

The case against the miniature vulgarian, supposedly nine years old, is as follows: Lil Tay has gone viral by flashing wads of US$100 bills, railing against “f***ing broke-ass n*****s” and making ridiculous boasts of buying Lamborghinis, wearing US$100,000 watches, hanging out with Kim Kardashian and living in a Los Angeles mansion after making a fortune “moving bricks” (selling drugs).

About the only thing that seems genuine is the vitriol hurled at her – “Asian bitch” expresses the general sentiment, while countless others ask: “Where are your parents?”

The nine-year-old’s persona is that of a rich US rapper living the high life. Photo: Instagram/Lil Tay
The nine-year-old’s persona is that of a rich US rapper living the high life. Photo: Instagram/Lil Tay

Lil Tay seems to give as good as she gets. “Imma f*** your momma … then imma become your father. But I ain’t spending money on child support. Imma spend that money on foreign s***, bitch,” she tells one supposed hater. 

Ian Young
Ian Young is the Post's Vancouver correspondent. A journalist for more than 20 years, he worked for Australian newspapers and the London Evening Standard before arriving in Hong Kong in 1997. There he won or shared awards for excellence in investigative reporting and human rights reporting, and the HK News Awards Scoop of the Year. He moved to Canada with his wife in 2010.
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