# Tee Grizzley

Terry Sanchez Wallace Jr. (born March 23, 1994), known professionally as Tee Grizzley, is an American rapper. He first began posting music online following a two year prison sentence, he released the song "First Day Out" in 2017. It quickly gained viral status—earning two million views on YouTube in under three weeks—due to a social media challenge enacted by American professional basketball power forward LeBron James, after which the song peaked within the top 50 of the Billboard Hot 100 and led him to sign with 300 Entertainment. Its release preceded his debut mixtape My Moment (2017), and was followed by the single "From the D to the A" (featuring Lil Yachty), which received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). His collaborative mixtape with Lil Durk, Bloodas (2018), was followed by his debut studio album, Activated (2018).
The album peaked at number ten on the Billboard 200, while his second and third albums, the Timbaland-produced Scriptures (2019) and Built for Whatever (2021), peaked at numbers 20 and 15, respectively. His fourth album, Tee's Coney Island (2023) marked a period of commercial resurgence as its lead single, "IDGAF" (featuring Chris Brown and Mariah the Scientist) entered the Billboard Hot 100 once more.

## Early life

Wallace was born on March 23, 1994, in Detroit, Michigan, and was raised by his grandmother near the intersection of Joy Rd. & Southfield Freeway in the Warrendale neighborhood due to his mother and father constantly being in and out of prison. In middle school he began developing an interest in rap music and eventually formed the musical group All Stars Ball Hard (ASBH) along with three of his friends, JR, Po, and Lee. Wallace took the moniker of ASBH Tee, and they began uploading their songs to YouTube. In 2011, his mother was sentenced to 20 years in prison for drug trafficking and released in late 2020. His father was murdered in 2012.
Wallace was the first member of his family to attend college in generations. He attended Michigan State University to study finance and accounting. He and a friend began to burglarize other students' dormitories. They stole $20,000 worth of electronics and money from other students in February 2014. On February 27, Wallace and Jeremy Ford were caught but released pending investigation.
Wallace went on the run, and fled to Kentucky. On July 1, 2014, Wallace was one of three people arrested following an attempted robbery at a jewelry store in Lexington, Kentucky. Wallace was sentenced to nine months for the robbery, and, while already serving that sentence, he was sentenced to 18 months to 15 years for the Michigan State robberies in September 2015. On October 16, 2016, he was released from prison in Michigan.

## Career
### 2016–2019: Debut singles, My Moment, Activated, and collaborations

While in prison, Wallace began to take rapping more seriously and wrote the entirety of his debut mixtape. After being released from prison, where he took the name Tee Grizzley, he released his debut single "First Day Out" in November 2016. The music video, posted to YouTube, gained over 2 million views in less than three weeks. He later signed to 300 Entertainment & Atlantic Records in 2017. He released his second single, "Second Day Out", in February 2017. His third single "From the D to the A" featuring Lil Yachty was released in March 2017.
He released "No Effort" and its accompanying music video on March 31, 2017. His debut mixtape My Moment was released on April 7, 2017. Grizzley said that his record sales tripled after his song was featured in a LeBron James Instagram post. Grizzley's song "Teetroit" was released on July 28, 2017. The single "Beef", featuring Meek Mill, was released on September 1, 2017. He received two 2017 BET Hip Hop Award nominations for Best New Hip-Hop Artist and Best Mixtape for My Moment.
He released the song "Win" on October 6, 2017. He released the song "What Yo City Like" with rapper Lil Durk on November 30, 2017, as the lead single for Bloodas. The two then released the joint mixtape Bloodas on December 8, 2017. He released the single "Colors" on February 2, 2018. The single "Don't Even Trip" featuring Moneybagg Yo was released on March 14, 2018.
On March 9, 2018, Grizzley had a feature in Lil Yachty's new album Lil Boat 2 in the song "Get Money Bros.". His debut studio album, Activated, was released on May 11, 2018. In August, he received a 2018 MTV Video Music Award nomination for Push Artist of the Year. He released the mixtape Still My Moment on November 9, 2018. In May 2019, he released the single "Locked Up".
On August 20, 2019, his vehicle was shot at in Detroit, Michigan. His aunt/manager Jobina Brown was killed in the shooting, she was 41. He and the driver survived the incident unharmed. On September 20, 2019, Grizzley released his single "Satish" accompanied with a music video to commemorate Brown's death.

### 2020–present: The Smartest, Built for Whatever and Half Tee Half Beast

In January 2020, Tee Grizzley released the single "Red Light". In March, he released the single "Payroll" featuring Payroll Giovanni. His song "No Talkin" was featured in the Netflix film Coffee & Kareem. He released the song "I Spy" on May 1, and "Mr. Officer" on June 5 in response to the murder of George Floyd and police brutality. The song features Queen Naija and members of the Detroit Youth Choir. He released the mixtape The Smartest on June 19.
On May 7, 2021, Tee Grizzley released his third studio album, Built for Whatever, a 19-track record that includes guest appearances from artists such as the late King Von and Young Dolph, as well as Lil Durk, YNW Melly, Quavo, G Herbo, and Big Sean.
On April 15, 2022, Tee Grizzley released the mixtape Half Tee Half Beast, along with a video for the track "Robbery Part 3". He explained the mixtape's title: "Yeah, I"m human like everyone else, but also the things I've been through and had to survive made me a beast".
On October 4, 2024, Tee Grizzley released his fifth studio album Post Traumatic. It was preceded by the singles "Suffer in Silence", "Swear to God", "Robbery 7", "Detroit", "Blow for Blow" and "Situationship", which were all released in 2024.

## Personal life

In February 2021, My'Eisha Agnew gave birth to Wallace's first child, a son named Terry Wallace III.
Grizzley is an avid gamer and began streaming in 2020 to fans on the video streaming platform Twitch. The vast majority of his streams are centered around Grand Theft Auto V.

## Discography
### Studio albums

List of studio albums, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | US | US R&B/ HH | US Rap | CAN |
| Activated | Released: May 11, 2018 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: CD, digital download, streaming | 10 | 6 | 6 | 25 |
| Scriptures | Released: June 7, 2019 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 20 | 10 | 9 | 43 |
| Built for Whatever | Released: May 7, 2021 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 15 | 10 | 9 | 46 |
| Tee's Coney Island | Released: November 3, 2023 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 65 | 24 | 20 | — |
| Post Traumatic | Released: October 4, 2024 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 60 | 20 | 15 | — |

### Mixtapes

List of mixtapes, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Details | US | US R&B/ HH | US Rap | CAN | Certifications |
| My Moment | Released: April 7, 2017 Labels: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 44 | 21 | 16 | — | RIAA: Gold |
| Still My Moment | Released: November 9, 2018 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 29 | 16 | 15 | 57 | |
| The Smartest | Released: June 19, 2020 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming, CD, LP | 22 | 14 | 11 | 88 | |
| Half Tee Half Beast | Released: April 15, 2022 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming, CD | 116 | — | — | — | |
| Chapters of the Trenches | Released: October 14, 2022 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | 124 | — | — | — |

### Collaborative mixtapes

List of collaborative mixtapes, with selected chart positions :
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions |
| Title | Details | US | US R&B/ HH | US Rap |
| Bloodas (with Lil Durk) | Released: December 8, 2017 Label: Tee Grizzley, 300, Def Jam, OTF Format: Digital download, streaming | 96 | 34 | 25 |
| Controversy (with Skilla Baby) | Released: April 28, 2023 Label: Grizzley Gang, 300 Format: Digital download, streaming | — | — | — |

### Singles
#### As lead artist

List of singles as lead artist, with showing year released and album name :
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | US | US R&B/HH | US Rap | Certifications | Album |
| "First Day Out" (solo or with Meek Mill) | 2016 | 48 | 18 | 13 | RIAA: 4× Platinum | My Moment |
| "Straight to It" (featuring Band Gang) | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Second Day Out" | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "From the D to the A" (featuring Lil Yachty) | 2017 | — | 48 | — | RIAA: 2× Platinum | Non-album singles |
| "No Effort" | 2017 | — | — | — | RIAA: Gold | My Moment |
| "Beef" (featuring Meek Mill) | 2017 | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "Colors" | 2018 | — | — | — | | Activated |
| "Don't Even Trip" (featuring Moneybagg Yo) | 2018 | — | — | — | | Activated |
| "Sweet Thangs" | 2019 | — | — | — | | Scriptures |
| "Satish" | 2019 | — | 48 | — | RIAA: Gold | The Smartest |
| "Red Light" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Payroll" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "I Spy" | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Mr. Officer" (featuring Queen Naija and Members of the Detroit Youth Choir) | 2020 | — | — | — | | The Smartest |
| "Married to My Enemies" (with Jackboy) | 2020 | — | — | — | | Living in History |
| "Wit a Sticc" (with Stupid Young) | 2020 | — | — | — | | From Here on Out |
| "For the Team" (with Blaze) | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Bossa Nova" (with Kash Doll) | 2020 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Gave That Back" (featuring Baby Grizzley) | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album singles |
| "Late Night Calls" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Built for Whatever |
| "Robbery Part Two" | 2021 | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "White Lows Off Designer" (featuring Lil Durk) | 2021 | — | — | — | | Built for Whatever |
| "Never Bend Never Fold" (with G Herbo) | 2021 | — | — | — | | Built for Whatever |
| "313-414" (with Lakeyah featuring DJ Drama) | 2021 | — | — | — | | My Time (Gangsta Grillz: Special Edition) |
| "Afterlife" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Half Tee Half Beast |
| "Beat the Streets" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Half Tee Half Beast |
| "Buss It All Down" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Half Tee Half Beast |
| "Robbery" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "Robbery Part 4" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Chapters of the Trenches |
| "Jay & Twan 1" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Chapters of the Trenches |
| "Ms. Evans 1" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Chapters of the Trenches |
| "Tez & Tone 1" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Chapters of the Trenches |
| "Jay & Twan 2" | 2022 | — | — | — | | Chapters of the Trenches |
| "Dropped the Lo" (with Skilla Baby) | 2023 | — | — | — | | Controversy |
| "B&E Pt. 1" (with Skilla Baby) | 2023 | — | — | — | | Controversy |
| "Gorgeous" (with Skilla Baby or remix featuring City Girls) | 2023 | — | — | — | | Controversy and Tee's Coney Island |
| "IDGAF" (featuring Chris Brown and Mariah the Scientist) | 2023 | 98 | 30 | 22 | | Tee's Coney Island |
| "Grizzley 2Tymes" (featuring Finesse2tymes) | 2023 | — | — | — | | Tee's Coney Island |
| "Robbery 6" | 2023 | — | — | — | | Tee's Coney Island |
| "Pressin'" (with Kash Doll) | 2024 | — | — | — | | Non-album single |
| "Suffer in Silence" | 2024 | — | — | — | | Post Traumatic |
| "Swear to God" (featuring Future) | 2024 | — | 40 | — | | Post Traumatic |
| "Robbery 7" | 2024 | — | — | — | | Post Traumatic |
| "Detroit" (featuring 42 Dugg) | 2024 | — | — | — | | Post Traumatic |
| "Blow for Blow" (featuring J. Cole) | 2024 | 88 | 23 | 20 | | Post Traumatic |
| "Situationship" (with Mariah the Scientist) | 2024 | — | — | — | | Post Traumatic |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |||||||

#### As featured artist

List of singles as featured artist, with showing year released :
| Title | Year | Certifications | Album |
| "Money" (Allstar Ballhard featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "Road to Riches" (Ty featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "Supposed To" (Duo Tycoon featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "#Moneybag" (Gway featuring Tee Grizzley and YV) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "We Got It Lit" (Navé Monjo featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "Rollie On" (Aoc Obama featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Obamacare 2 |
| "Still Running" (Cap 4z and K'hunnit featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "Get the Money" (Lougotcash featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "Any Means Necessary" (Cash Kounty Pilot featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Non-album singles |
| "I'm On 3.0" (Trae tha Truth featuring T.I., Dave East, Tee Grizzley, Royce da 5'9", Curren$y, DRAM, Snoop Dogg, Fabolous, Rick Ross, Chamillionaire, G-Eazy, Styles P, E-40, Mark Morrison, and Gary Clark, Jr.) | 2017 | | Tha Truth, Pt. 3 |
| "Cold Summer" (Jeezy featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2017 | | Pressure |
| "Dreadz n Bread (Remix)" (Nook and Tee Grizzley and Sada Baby) | 2018 | | Non-album singles |
| "Freddy Krueger" (YNW Melly featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2018 | RIAA: Platinum | Non-album singles |
| "Freak" (Chris Brown featuring Lil Wayne, Joyner Lucas and Tee Grizzley) | 2024 | | 11:11 (Deluxe) |

### Other charted songs

| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album |
| Title | Year | US Bub. | Certifications | Album |
| "Jettski Grizzley" (featuring Lil Pump) | 2018 | 4 | RIAA: Gold | Activated |
| "2 Vaults" (featuring Lil Yachty) | 2018 | 12 | RIAA: Gold | Activated |
| "Young Grizzley World" (featuring YNW Melly and A Boogie wit da Hoodie) | 2019 | — | RIAA: Platinum | Scriptures |
| "Friday Night Cypher" (Big Sean featuring Tee Grizzley, Kash Doll, Cash Kidd, Payroll, 42 Dugg, Boldy James, Drego, Sada Baby, Royce da 5'9", and Eminem) | 2020 | 10 | | Detroit 2 |
| "Rich Gangsta" (King Von featuring Tee Grizzley) | 2022 | 18 | | What It Means to Be King |
| "Robbery Part 3" | 2022 | 20 | | Half Tee Half Beast |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
| 2017 | 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards | Best New Hip Hop Artist | Himself | Nominated |
| 2017 | 2017 BET Hip Hop Awards | Best Mixtape | My Moment | Nominated |
| 2018 | MTV Video Music Awards | Push Artist of the Year | Himself | Nominated |