She first came to prominence in early 2018 at the age of ten (while claiming to be nine years old), when content depicting her boasting about being wealthy and calling herself "the youngest flexer of the century", as well as videos of her rapping, were published and viewed millions of times on YouTube and Instagram.
[9][10] She was originally from Atlanta, Georgia, United States, before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at an early age.
[13] On September 12, 2024, an announcement was posted to Tian's social media platforms stating she was in the ICU in "critical condition" and was diagnosed with a heart tumor.
[5][13] She first rose to prominence through her presence on social media sites like Instagram by posting pictures of herself in luxury vehicles while wearing designer clothes.
[5] While her popularity was growing, Tay's mother Angela Tian came in contact with talent managers in Los Angeles, California.
A separate Instagram account was reportedly made with contact information on Tay's father, including details about his workplace, allegedly to harass him.
[17] By 2019, it was reported in an edition of New York's The Cut that Jason managed all of her social media presence and that her mother had several business meetings about Tay without her involvement or any contracts signed.
[18][17][25] According to ¡Hola!, Jason launched a GoFundMe page citing the abuse allegations in an attempt to earn money on Tay's behalf.
[24] The videos were criticized by rapper Snoop Dogg, who noted, "She need to be in school learning how to be a little girl not a dumbass grown person".
[16] Videos of her with Jake Paul at his residence and Tay feuding with internet celebrity and rapper Bhad Bhabie had more than four million views on YouTube.
[26] Both Tay's father and self-proclaimed "former manager" initially told Insider they could not confirm or deny whether she had died,[30] and the Vancouver and Los Angeles police departments also stated that they had no reports of her death, and were not investigating it.
[37][38][39] On September 30, a few weeks after the incident, she released her lead single "Sucker 4 Green" from her upcoming debut studio album.