Tylil James Is Just Getting Started 

You’re a huge LeBron fan. You finally met him this week. Kai set this whole surprise up for you to meet someone you look up to. Sometimes people get let down after meeting their idols. Should people meet their heroes?

LeBron is more like a family member to me, but I think everybody should meet their heroes. I feel like that saying came from somebody that really had a bad interaction with a person that they met, that kind of helped them, and that kind of inspired them. But when I met LeBron, he was very humble, very respectful. 

He wasn’t standoffish, and I'm not gonna lie, he knew who I was. When I first dapped him up, he said, “Ty!” and that's my new name—it's not even “lil.” 

And when he left, he said, “My dog, it’s love.” So it was a pleasure. I think everybody should meet somebody like Bron.

So you and Cash both met him at the same time. You apologized because you felt like you cut Cash off.  How do you feel about his reaction to your apology?

I just seen Cash’s reaction. At the end of the day, the day gotta end. Cash, you've been glazing LeBron for 10-plus years. I just feel like Cash didn't think it was ever possible to get out-glazed. I really wasn't glazing. That shit came from the heart.  

I was just really being myself. And he trying to say I boxed him. How could I box you Cash? Your big-ass head. Your head is 90 pounds. You 290. I'm 180. 
 

You’re a basketball player yourself, and you’ve said you were nice. It’s probably hard to be objective here, but what level would you say you were on?

I could definitely play, like, in all honesty, probably a low Division 1, because I'm very, very good at defense. I have a lot of hustle, and I do everything. 

You also said on stream that you were incorrectly diagnosed with a heart murmur, which took you out of basketball. First of all, how did you learn the diagnosis was false?

Because we went to the first hospital, which was near my school, them fools diagnosed me. I was just so crushed at the fact that I couldn't play. You got to get a physical; you got to get clear. I couldn't get cleared to play. So I was just very upset. Two months later, I just lost all the motivation. So my grades got bad. You got to keep up with the grades. 

When I got re-diagnosed at Jamaica Hospital, I didn't have a heart murmur. 

So, wait, you just went to a different hospital?

Yeah. 

How would you say your life would be different if you had never gotten that initial diagnosis?

I think I'd be in the NBA. Like, for sure.

You’d be getting drafted tonight?

Nah, nah, nah. I would have been drafted. I'd have been watching the draft tonight.

In another interview a couple years ago, you said you were just sort of going with the flow at first with streaming and not jumping on every single opportunity. How has that changed since?

I just definitely got more structure. I'm also way better at planning. Because when you first coming up, you kind of just trying to feel it out. My content is lifestyle. But when I first started streaming, I was playing The Last of Us. I was doing a lot of content with my niece and my family. I did a lot of content with Zoe. I did a lot of content that wasn't really organized, but it was just going with the flow. 

So now, this next year, I have bigger plans. I want my stream to be bigger. I kind of treat it like a live TV show. So I want to plan, I want to invest, I want to have a structure, and I want my people to have stuff to look forward to.

Is that something that you learned at Streamer University—to plan more? Or structure your content more?

No, I kind of learned that just with all the mistakes I made while I was going with the flow. Because while you're going with the flow, it don't get annoying, but sometimes you kind of feel stagnant. Like, damn, I don't want to get on stream today. I don't got nothing look forward to. 

So instead of ever putting yourself in that position, I use Monday to plan out Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I use time to plan so I have stuff to look forward to, so I would never just think I don't got nothing really to do.

Do you worry that, now that there's more content creators, the piece of the money or even the fan pie will shrink for everyone? 

No, of course not. Streamer University bought everybody together, and if anything, more people being recognized from [it] is going to bring more money to the streaming world, more sponsors, more interviews with Type.Set.Brooklyn, and a bunch of different opportunities going to come. The more people see how impactful and influential the streamers are—I don't think it's no shrinkage. Only thing I see is growth.

That’s so interesting, because a lot of people would try to gatekeep as much as possible. 

A lot of people is weird, and a lot of people is not blessed. And a lot of people's not confident. What is the point? To gatekeep? It's enough money for everybody. Chicken printed every day.

You've had an impressive run over the last couple of weeks. You've had Latto on your stream. You got to go to the BET Awards, and now meeting LeBron. Is the plan to get LeBron on the stream? Who’s your dream collab?

LeBron James is definitely my dream collab. But I'm glad that I was able to meet him not on my stream. I'm glad I was able to meet him in general. I kind of feel complete. I'm ready to really rebrand.

I got a block party coming up, and with collabs, I really want to go with the flow. I want more female entertainers. So I would like Queen Latifah or Meagan Good.

Or Eddie Murphy or Dave Chappelle. I love entertainers. I don't mind collabing with male artists and female artists as well. But moving forward, I'd much rather just have entertainers, because it goes hand in hand.

And you know you have to make yourself uncomfortable to get to that next level, right? What’s the most uncomfortable you’ve been?

When you have really high expectations for yourself, I sometimes kind of get discouraged because I think I could be doing way more. So I'm kind of always uncomfortable. 

I'm a streamer, so every day is something new. Every day is something else to talk about. Everything we do, people talk about it for two, three, four days max. You see how you just asked me what’s next? It’s like, damn, I just met LeBron. I want everybody to talk about that for the next three years. 

So sometimes it has me thinking, damn, what really is next?  It don't really make me uncomfortable. It's a little discouraging. But I pray. I don't worry and pray at the same time.

It sounds like you want to live in the moment and then we can talk about what’s next.

Exactly. Love living in the moment.