Tucked into an opulent cliffside home deep in the canyons of Agoura Hills, world-famous hip-hop star Tyga cracks a wide smile. He could very well be smiling after charting four songs on the Billboard Hot 100 in the past year, or conceivably due to the fact that it's impossible to turn on a hip-hop radio station without hearing one of his singles in heavy rotation.
These, among many other reasons, are both feasible explanations for Tyga's wide-eyed jubilance, but today, at this moment, the 22-year-old Los Angeles native is grinning from ear to ear because he's watching Sophie Dee getting railed by Lexington Steele on the deck of an infinity pool.
No, this is not some sex-soaked dream sequence Tyga's cooked up in his mind—it's a scene from Rack City: The XXX Movie, his adult video directorial debut. Yes, the hottest young hip-hop star in the world produced, directed and appears in his own porno.
For anyone familiar with Tyga's music, particularly his most recent hit track, “Make it Nasty,” it comes as no surprise that the heavily-tattooed emcee is fixated on the female form and enamored with sex. When you're a rich and famous rapper, sex with beautiful women is part of the standard benefits package.
Tyga told AVN on this 100-plus degree day in mid-August that he decided to make this movie because he wanted to make an adult movie for his generation.
"I just felt like now was a time that I wanted to be involved in the sexual part of it—how far can I actually go without actually doing porn?" Tyga wondered. "I think every guy thinks about that. Doing this project it was important for me to put something out with my vision. For young dudes like myself that are into it and to do it my own way without actually exposing myself.
"This movie really takes 'Rack City,' the song that I made, into the world of triple-X film. It's a real movie that people will enjoy, and I'm proud of it."
Tyga's musical accomplishments put him at the top of the rap game.
Fresh off the success of "Coconut Juice," his debut single from his first album, Tyga released the Fan of a Fan mixtape with Chris Brown. The album's debut single, "Deuces," was a Top 20 hit and was nominated for a Grammy award. The track also appeared on Brown's studio album, F.A.M.E.
"Rack City," the adult movie's namesake song, went two-times platinum and became Tyga's first solo Top 10 hit, peaking at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100. His latest album, Careless World: Rise of the Last King, features guest appearances from Lil Wayne, Drake, Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Chris Brown, Soulja Boy, Game, Big Sean, Wale and Pharrell Williams. His current single "Faded" is a Top 40 hit.
Tyga's signed to Cash Money Records' imprint Young Money Entertainment, founded by Lil Wayne, who also records for the label. Young Money's roster of artists also includes megastars such as Drake and Nicki Minaj, the latter of whom Tyga kicks off an international tour with this month.
Fans of Tyga's music will definitely want to pick up a copy of Rack City: The XXX Movie. In addition to mega-hits "Rack City" and "Faded," the movie will feature some unreleased tracks. When told that AVN has an award for Best Original Soundtrack, Tyga laughed and said he would put it in his trophy case next to his BET award.
Tyga's initial connection to the porn world came due a funny set of circumstances with performer/director Justice Young, who's co-directing the movie with Tyga. So how did these two hook up? We'll let Tyga tell it.
"I know Justice from a few years back," he explains. "I actually used to live in the same house he lived in, this big ass crib, and that's how we hooked up from there. And then my homie brought it to my attention that—he was watching a porn scene—and it was Justice fucking in the house we was in! At that time I didn't know what Justice did, he said he did video production, but I didn't know it was porn. I was like, that's crazy! So when I started to think about doing this movie who'd be better to shoot this with? So I called Justice and we put it together. It came together quickly in about a week."
Young and Tyga displayed their years-long friendship through a solid rapport on set, as both young guns grabbed the reins and seamlessly collaborated with each other down to the smallest details. Tyga played a very active role in the creative process; this is not some project he's just slapping his name on for commercial purposes.
It's clear from conversing with Tyga that he's well versed with the ladies of triple-X film. Exclusive to Rack City XXX are the returns of a trio of big-name stars with a huge followings in the urban community, no doubt one large segment of the audience with a keen interest in all things Tyga.
"I picked a lot of the girls that I was already familiar with and I feel like a lot of the people out there know," Tyga said, cracking his ever-present pearly white grin. "I wanted to have big names for my first project. We brought in girls like Jada Fire and Ice La Fox out of retirement, Havana Ginger too, so we got a lot of big players people maybe haven't seen in a bit."
Also starring in the movie is Kristina Rose, London Keyes, Skin Diamond, Daisy Marie, Stacie Lane and Austin Taylor.
Rack City XXX picks up where the music video for "Make it Nasty" leaves off. After a debaucherous house party filled with scantily clad females, Tyga wakes up next to Skin and wonders if it was all a dream. Rest assured, it was not. Mansion parties, iced-out jewelry, luxury cars and sexually adventurous women are part of Tyga's daily reality.
With such a high profile and a young fan base Tyga knows making porn is a controversial career move. He picks up where Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon left off and raises the bar by starring in his movie in a non-sex role.
"I would just say to [critics] that sex is a universal thing," Tyga mentions respectfully. "I just kept thinking, well, why not do this movie? I feel like there's nobody young that's been able to—like you said, Snoop Dogg and Lil Jon were the only ones that did it, and they're a little older than me, and they were really only hosting it. This is really me, this is really my vision. This isn't something someone handed to me and I'm just hosting and putting my name on. I'm really producing and doing the whole film. A lot of people are gonna be interested in it and of course girls are gonna want to see it. They might think I'm in it [having sex], they want to see me in it, so it's going to really catch a lot of eyes. I think it's also going to draw a whole other fan base that isn't familiar with me too."
An avowed porn fan for years, Tyga settled into the director's chair easily. He's thoughtful, creative and accommodating to the cast and crew, eschewing an entourage for solely the company of his road manager. It's clear he's the top dog on set but he values others' opinions—especially those of Young, who has years of experience on adult movie sets.
"I watch porn, no doubt," Tyga said proudly. "Sometimes I think it made me grow up a little faster, so I think it helps your sex life or with your girl. You can see what motherfuckers is doin' so you can try it, you know? It helped me.
"Yesterday was my first time [on a porn set] so it was like you never really know what to expect because I've never been on a porn set; I don't know how it works so when you start to see everything, you can see how it's done. Kind of like when you shoot a music video you don't really know what goes into it at first. It's really a lot of hard work. People think you just show up, fuck a chick, and that's it. It's like shooting a music video or a short movie, basically."
Tyga Presents Rack City: The XXX Movie streets this month through distributor Hush Hush Entertainment. Young and Tyga also are launching RackCity.XXX, where fans can sign up and get new updates, photos, videos and view the movie.
So, Tyga, while your future no doubt holds best-selling albums, chart-topping hits, sold-out tours and more money than you can spend, do you see yourself continuing to direct porn?
"I look at it right now as a hobby, but I'm into it right now so I feel like I'm really doing it for fun, but at the same time I really want to make it right," Tyga said. “I'm not just bullshitting my way through this. Anything I attach myself to I want it to be high quality. I feel like regardless we put a good project together."
Rack City, bitch!
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