Coachella 2025: Ty Dolla $ign duets with brother from prison
At Coachella, Ty Dolla $ign remotely duetted with his brother, Big TC, who is currently serving a prison sentence for murder.
Ty’s set at Coachella on the Sahara Stage on April 18th was packed with special guest appearances, including Wiz Khalifa, YG, Tyga, and Leon Thomas, but it was Big TC’s cameo that was the most poignant.
Halfway through the set, a pre-recorded video of Big TC singing, accompanied on stage by a choir, appeared on the screen behind him. The stage had also been designed to replicate a prison yard.
In 2004, Big TC was sentenced to life in California’s Calipatria State Prison for murder. Ty dedicated his debut album to his older brother by titling the 2015 project Free TC, and has long maintained his relative is innocent.
During an interview with Vice in 2016, Ty said: “Have you ever had a family member die? It’s basically that. He’s basically dead. It’s like hell, almost. A living hell. Luckily, you can reach out and you can go see him, but it’s like, he’s basically dead. It’s like if a family member dies. I want him back, man. He’s a fucking human man. Imagine if you had someone stripped from the family, man. That shit is fucked up man.”
The rapper passionately continued: “He’s a human. A smartass human. A talented human. A human who could be on some whole other shit right now.”
Ty then explained how his brother is a different person to the one that entered prison in 2004, adding, “A human who is mine but who is totally different than he was then. You grow everyday. You change everyday. The whole system is fucked up, too. I damn near say that if you’re going to put someone in for life, you might as well kill them. That’s a human, you know? The world is fucked up.”
Coachella is set to continue on April 19th with performances from Green Day, Travis Scott, Charli XCX, Sam Fender and more.
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