Lil Tay has made her return to music and social media after a five-year pause and a death hoax last month.
The internet star shot to fame at nine years old for her controversial rap videos on Instagram, which involved heavy swearing, flashing wads of cash, and racial slurs.
On Sept. 30, Lil Tay dropped a music video for her new song "Sucker 4 Green" and went live on Instagram to address her absence.
In August, the Vancouver rapper made headlines because of a death hoax involving a statement that was shared to the rapper's Instagram account declaring her and her brother's passing.
Lil Tay said that her Instagram account was hacked by a third party and used to spread misinformation about her, including her legal name which is Tay Tian and not "Claire Hope" as the false statement wrote.
A week since the incident, another statement was shared to Lil Tay's Instagram sharing that MacLean Law firm are the attorneys for Tay Tian's mother, Angela Tian. The official statement shared "a brief status update on the results in the British Columbia Supreme Court," adding that the law firm had "successfully obtained orders for our client that have enabled her daughter to advance her career."
There has been much discussion over the last several years online regarding Lil Tay (often referred to by the name "Claire"), including a shocking 2021 Go Fund Me alleging longtime abuse of the child at the hands of her birth father and stepmother. The page, which continues to receive donations, was allegedly created by her brother.
Lil Tay addressed the alleged abuse on her Instagram live. Accompanied by print-outs of text messages, screenshots, and photos, the rapper alleged that she had been abused by her birth father named Christopher (Chris) Hope since childhood. She alleged inappropriate and sexual behaviour, being fed mouldy and parasitic food, and suffering physical abuse while living with Hope. She also alleged that Hope owes $250,000 in child support. An official statement by MacLean Law on Lil Tay's Instagram states that her father owes approximately $275,000 in child support since 2014.
The rapper also addressed rumours regarding her mother's career. She alleges that her mother, Angela Tian who worked as a realtor in Vancouver, wasn't fired as reported in the media but had resigned. "I've waited for so long to clear that up," she says in the Instagram live.
Near the end of her Instagram live, Lil Tay talked about the death hoax in August. "Chris Hope was the one that did the death hoax. He was trying to sabotage me," she says. She continued to allege that Hope was working with a con-artist that was claiming to be her manager -- she noted earlier that she never had a manager -- and that they had planned to fake Lil Tay's death to promote a cryptocoin.
"I hope you realize how much [expletive] has been surrounding my name from the moment I became famous till now...in the end, we won," says Lil Tay, alluding to the court battle between her family and Hope. "I am free now."
