Tyga

The formerly quiet addition to the Young Money stable that is home to such stars as Nicki Minaj and the arena-headlining Drake wrapped his first major headline run in the spring, with most dates selling out.

His reported shows averaged 1,300 tickets sold at major clubs, including sellouts at the 2,375-capacity Warfield Theatre in San Francisco and 2,150-capacity Best Buy Theatre in New York City.

Getting Tyga to this point has consisted mostly of some old-fashioned artist development, with support dates for major touring draws (Drake, Chris Brown) as well as mixtapes and singles featuring similar star power.

“Tyga’s a worker,” manager J Erving III told Pollstar. “He’s really willing to put the work in, and continues to create a bunch of content for his fans. The kid did 80 dates between the U.S. and Europe in a little over 90 days.”

Erving, son of basketball legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving II, says Tyga has the brains to match that energetic ambition, and he’s watched his career grow from the very beginning.

“He understands the game and what he needs to do to get us where we need to be,” Erving said, adding that the tattoo-covered lady killer doesn’t smoke or drink. “Whether or not you’re going to have a high level of success is always the question, but I knew from the start he had it in him and the work ethic to be a star.”

Of course, quality is also important. “He’s growing very credibly, which is important for us,” Erving said. “And not like a lot of these rap artists right now that just have records but don’t have anything beyond that, without the substance.”

Erving says Tyga has “nothing but upside potential” and is on a similar career trajectory to urban artists from the previous generation, like a Jay-Z or Nas.

Expect to see more of Tyga on the road, with headline dates in Canada in July and a run of 20 U.S. dates in September headlining the “Closer To My Dreams 2” tour, playing 4,000-capacity rooms.