Happy Birthday, Tee Grizzley!

Today, March 23, is the 24th birthday of Detroit rapper Tee Grizzley.

With the birthname Terry Sanchez Wallace, Tee Grizzley was born in Detroit in 1994, mostly raised by his grandmother. He first became interested in rapping around eight years old, when he noticed his uncles were into it, and was enamored by the prospect of hearing his own voice through speakers. By middle school, he formed All Stars Ball Hard, a rap group consisting of Tee and three of his friends. A little later in his his life, tragedy struck; his mother was sentenced to a long jail sentence for drug trafficking in 2011, and his father was murdered in 2012.

Even through all of the darkness, Tee found a way. He eventually attended Michigan State University, the first member of his family to go to college in multiple generations.

Unfortunately, he turned to robbing dorms at his school once he ran out of money and was apprehended for it in February 2014. Once released as the investigation went on, he fled to Kentucky and was arrested for an attempted jewelry store heist later in the same year. Sentenced to nine months for the attempted robbery, then sentenced to another 18 months to five years for the dorm robberies, Tee spent around three years locked up, and got out in October 2016.

With a new lease on life and a new name, Tee Grizzley, it was time to pursue rap seriously. "First Day Out," his November 2016 song detailing his life pre and post-jail, immediately blew up, and has nearly 80 million views to date. He rode that momentum into a deal with 300 Entertainment/Atlantic Records in early 2017, and dropped his debut mixtape My Moment in April of that year. Mix in various loosies and a collab tape with Chicago's Lil Durk, Bloodas, and Tee's last year was a good one.

Now, Tee is pushing his new collab with Moneybagg Yo, "Don't Even Trip," and preparing to release his debut album Activated, which drops soon.

Happy birthday, Tee Grizzley!

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