Rapper Lil Tjay has been arrested in connection with a shooting incident involving fellow rap star Offset at a Florida casino. The incident took place on Monday (April 6) at the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood, where both artists were reportedly present before an altercation escalated.
Authorities say Lil Tjay, born Tione Jayden Merritt, was detained outside the casino following the disturbance. According to a statement provided to Rolling Stone from the Seminole Police Department, the Bronx rapper has been charged with disorderly conduct — affray, which is classified as a first-degree misdemeanor under Florida law.
While early speculation attempted to link him more directly to the shooting, officials have not charged him with any weapons-related offenses.
“Merritt was booked into the Broward County Jail late last night,” the Seminole Police Department said in its statement. “A second person detained at the scene has not been charged. The investigation to identify one or more additional persons involved in the incident is ongoing.”
Records from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office indicate that Lil Tjay is currently being held on a $500 bond related to the disorderly conduct charge. He was also booked for a separate traffic violation, carrying a $2,500 bond.
The police statement appears to confirm widespread speculation that the shooting involving Offset and Lil Tjay’s arrest are connected, especially given prior tension between the two artists regarding an alleged gambling debt.
However, conflicting early reports created confusion, with some falsely claiming that Lil Tjay had both shot Offset and been shot himself.
Those claims were firmly denied by his attorney, Dawn M. Florio, who pushed back against what she described as misinformation circulating online.
“We are issuing this release in regards to false rumors that Lil Tjay was involved in a shooting which occurred at the Valet Area of the Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood which resulting in non-life threatening injuries to Offset, formerly a member of Migos,” Florio wrote.
“Lil Tjay has not been shot, nor has Lil Tjay been charged with any shooting. Any reporting to the contrary is false,” Florio continued. “We encourage people to consult trusted news sources, and to verify the accuracy of any reporting.”
Meanwhile, Offset was transported to Memorial Regional Hospital after sustaining what officials described as a “non-life-threatening” injury. A representative for the rapper confirmed his condition to Rolling Stone.
“Offset was shot and is currently at the hospital receiving medical care,” said the spokesperson. “He is stable and being closely monitored.”
As of now, Offset has not issued a personal statement, though fans and fellow artists have already begun expressing support and wishing him a quick recovery. The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to determine what led to the shooting and whether additional individuals will face charges.
This story was originally published on VIBE.
Drake attends a game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers
Earl Sweatshirt Is Right: ‘Don’t Worry’ Is a Great Drake Song
Even the staunchest Drake hater can probably name at least one song that does it for them. For better or worse, Aubrey Graham has spent nearly two decades giving voice to the millennial subconscious more skillfully than any mainstream musician not named Taylor Swift, soundtracking the fears, insecurities, and romantic delusions of a generation raised on reality-TV melodrama and the first wave of social media’s main-character ethos. It should come as no surprise, then, that Earl Sweatshirt, underground rap’s poet laureate, has singled out the deep Iceman cut “Don’t Worry,” singing the song karaoke-style to close out his recent live sets. The track is the purest distillation of Drake’s appeal since the Take Care era, and a quiet reminder of why it’s hard to imagine him going away any time soon.
In the clips, which first started circulating around late May, during Earl’s Home on the Range Tour with MIKE on the heels of their Surf Gang-produced project Pompeii // Utility, it’s the song’s final turn that has Earl & Co. the most hyped up. “I just wanna see that boy beg on the pavement,” Drake coos, the type of revenge fantasy he’s built a career out of conjuring. Drake goes on. “I just wanna see that boy struggle with the phone bill,” he sings, getting specific. “The light bill/That’s how I feel.”
It’s PhD-level pettiness with a weirdly relatable spin. One must know the more treacherous depths of being broke to pinpoint the humiliation of struggling with the phone bill, and here Drake is wishing such luck onto anyone “trippin’ with the gang.” Whereas his entire catalog is fueled by this kind of anonymous sense of betrayal, it hits harder here. You can feel the sting of 2024’s rap beef in the glee with which Drake sings his imagined get-back, landing on an infectious melody all while basically giving a speech you’d expect from the Joker. “I might just get that boy hit for entertainment,” he sings.
This is classic Drake, turning the darker inner thoughts most people would be ashamed to admit into something almost beautiful. He is, in a way, rap’s Lena Dunham, finding art on the other side of cringe.
More recently, clips of Earl singing the song at the end of different tour stops — an ongoing bit at this point — went viral thanks to the never-ending stan wars between Kendrick and Drake fans. Some, unable to deny Earl’s bona fides as a rapper, assumed the whole thing must be an act of trolling, while others saw it as proof that Drake “won” the beef. The third option, of course, is that it’s a really good song, the type Drake is especially skilled at making.
At the height of the beef, like any millennial amidst a friend-group falling-out, Drake appeared to be rewatching The Sopranos, posting pictures from the show to his Instagram Stories. (Iceman’s hit single “Janice STFU” samples Tony Soprano uttering the infamous phrase to his sister, Janice.) “Don’t Worry” has the Machiavellian feeling of a classic mobster flick, a resolve for vengeance at any cost. A desire to see your enemies suffer. Across an entire album, it’s a mood that can feel heavy, but you’ve got to admit, when it hits, it hits. And that’s why Drake remains a fixture within not just hip-hop, but pop culture at large. He reconstructs embarrassingly human impulses as irresistible melodies. “Don’t Worry” might very well become the sleeper hit from Iceman, as clips from Earl’s concerts have already started to boost the song’s presence across feeds.
As he often does, Earl Sweatshirt simply speaks the truth.