He's straight out of Compton, but Tyga won't be carrying the torch for West Coast gangsta rap any time soon. At 22 years old, Tyga could be the next full-fledged star from the New Orleans-based Young Money Entertainment roster that includes Drake and Nicki Minaj.

In 2006, Tyga (real name: Michael Ray Nguyen Stevenson) was an unknown teenager looking for his big break in rap. He got it one year later when he ran into his cousin, Gym Class Heroes frontman Travie McCoy, at a Los Angeles sneaker shop: "[Travie] was telling me all this stuff he was doing with his band and I thought he was just lying to seem cool." Once Tyga realized his cousin wasn't kidding, he sent McCoy a mix-tape of his work. Months later, Tyga was performing on tour with Gym Class Heroes, making a guest appearance on the song Arms Race by Fall Out Boy, and performing with his future boss, Lil Wayne, at the 2007 MTV VMAs.

After dropping his debut album, No Introduction (a joint release between Pete Wentz's Decaydance label and Lil Wayne's Young Money Entertainment), Tyga has gone on to appear on the hit tracks BedRock by Young Money and Deuces by Chris Brown. His follow-up album, Careless World: Rise of The Last King, is scheduled for a November release and features Far Away, a Bruno Mars-inspired single featuring American Idol alum Chris Robinson.